Rajasthan: Casting firm owner, who had worked with Salman-Akshay, arrested from Chittorgarh for raping French woman in Udaipur

Udaipur: Rajasthan police have arrested a 29-year-old youth in connection with the alleged rape of a visiting French woman.

The accused Pushpraj alias Sidharth Oza was nabbed on Wednesday morning from Chittorgarh and brought to the SP office here, Police Superintendent Yogesh Goyal said.

According to sources, the accused, who reportedly runs a casting company, had cast small-time actors in several projects, including Bollywood movies such as the Salman Khan-starrer ‘Prem Ratan Dhan Payo’ (2015) and Akshay Kumar’s ‘Khel-Khel Mein’ (2024).

Goyal claimed initially the youth pleaded that he was innocent, but during the interrogation accepted that he perpetrated the crime.

Now, proceedings for his speedy trial would be ensured. "We will try to file the chargesheet against the accused within a week", a police spokesman said.

The victim arrived in the lake city on June 2 along with a group of French tourists. They were staying at a resort in Amba Mata area.

On Monday evening, the group was enjoying drinks at the resort when the youth arrived and joined them at a table.

In an attempt to befriend the woman, he offered her a cigarette and then took her away under the pretext of a fun drive.

Instead of brining her back her to the resort, he took her to his apartment and allegedly raped her. He reportedly forced her to stay there the entire night.