Ahuja wife: 'Shiney has industry support'

The wife of Bollywood star Shiney Ahuja has said that people in the film industry are unwilling to publicly support her husband, who was arrested in June for allegedly raping his maid.

The actor’s bail application was rejected last week after fears that he would try to influence prosecution witnesses.

Since Ajuha was arrested, co-stars have come forward to talk about his womanising.

In an interview with The Times of India, Anu Ahuja said that she had actually received several messages of support from many of Shiney’s colleagues.

When asked whether she wanted more actors to publicly defend the accused star, Anu said: "I can’t go around asking for support.”

However, she named some friends: "From the industry Anurag Basu, Sudhir Mishra, producers Tito-Tony, Jahnu Baruah, Kunal Shivdasani, Pritish Nandy, Ketan Mehta and Soha Ali Khan have been supportive. I don’t know that many film people. I never went out to befriend them."

She added about the situation: "It’s bizarre... illogical. It [the rape charge] is suicidal. Nobody would do such a thing. But I can’t say anything right now.

"I don’t want to hurt his case in any way. But this is not the Shiney I spent 15 years with. This is someone else they’re talking about."