A sessions court on Friday convicted aspiring actor Preeti Jain for conspiring with two others to kill national award-winning director Madhur Bhandarkar in 2005. Jain had earlier alleged that Bhandarkar had raped her, a case, the Supreme Court quashed in 2012.

The court also found two other accused guilty, while two others were acquitted. Jain was sentenced to three years' imprisonment. She immediately sought bail. The court is expected to pass an order on it later in the day.

Dressed in a red kurta, Jain made her way to the witness box after the judge pronounced the conviction. When the court asked her if she wanted to say something on the sentencing, she just expressed her shock at the verdict. Her lawyer sought the minimum sentence on the ground that she was a woman.

In July 2004, Preeti had lodged a complaint with the Versova Police against Madhur alleging he had raped her 16 times between 1999 and 2004 under the pretext of casting her as actress in his films. Madhur insists the complaint was of "cheating" and did not mention rape.

In a statement issued at that time, Preeti had said, "We had sex 16 times and Madhur made promises of giving me a lead role in his films. However, he didn`t offer me a lead role in any of his movies. At times when I refused, he raped me."
However, Jain was arrested in 2005 for hiring a contract killer to murder Bhadarkar. She was later granted bail. Bhandarkar was among the 51 witnesses who deposed before the trial court.

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