Mumbai, June 16: Pooja Bedi’s beau Aditya Panscholi ‘raped’ her maid (in the ’80s), and she dumped him
Shiney Ahuja’s wife Anu says that she trusts her husband and that he is being framed. But over two decades ago, Pooja Bedi had dumped her boyfriend Aditya Pancholi when her 15-year old maid accused him of raping her.
Logical decision
When told about Anu’s reaction, Pooja says, “You have to be balanced. I made a logical decision that infidelity wouldn’t be part of my life, so I dumped Aditya. My advice to Anu would be ‘Don’t make hasty decisions. Take a decision after calming down, so it’s a rational one.'”
Incidentally Shiney was a guest on her chat show Only Pooja, and he also appeared as a judge on Nach Baliye in which she participated. “He didn’t come across as a flirtatious but a very serious man.”
She adds, “I was happy to move on after I dumped Aditya when my maid had made similar allegations but there are some women who will accept it as a mistake, reconcile and forget about it.”
For Pooja infidelity is a deal breaker. “I can’t stomach infidelity. There’s nothing as terrible as a violation of one’s marital or personal space. I would want 100 per cent loyalty from my man.”
Emotional turmoil
Pooja recalls that when her maid told her about Aditya, there was disbelief. “I went through a gamut of emotions shock, horror, and doubt. In technical terms it wasn’t rape but consensual sex, but it was termed rape as she was a minor. She had run away from home to become an actress and Aditya convinced her that he would help her.”
Bedi admits that she had a tough time believing her maid initially. “I wanted to believe that my guy wouldn’t sleep with another woman while he was with me. When I confronted him, at first he denied it, but later admitted. You just accept it, learn to deal with it, move on. Today I don’t want to be reminded of that horrible incident. It was horribly humiliating.”
–Agencies