A big blow has been landed on the television industry as a popular actor has been arrested for the alleged rape of a minor child and has been remanded to 14 days judicial custody. The actor in question is Pearl V Puri who has acted in the serial 'Naagin 3' which is not only popular in North India but South too after the dubbed versions have been a huge hit with Tamil and Telugu audiences as well.

It is alleged that the victim was five years old in 2019 when the incident happened and was on the sets with her mother who also worked with Puri. A complaint was lodged by the victim's father in the same year but the identity of the accused was kept under wraps.

Celebrities from the Bollywood television industry including Puri's costars and producer Ekta Kapoor have come out in support him. Their side of the story is that the child's mother who worked in the same serial had brought her to the sets and as she was a fan of Puri he took pictures with her nothing more than that.

The supporters claim that the mother and father of the child are estranged and the father wanting the custody of the child had given the complaint so as to prove that being with the mother is not safe for her.

Sanjay Patil, deputy commissioner of police (DCP), zone 2 Mira-Bhayandar, Vasai-Virar Police Commissionerate in Mumbai has strongly stated that there is proof of Puri's crime. “The victim identified the accused recently, and after recording her statement, the accused has been arrested. After the identification of the accused, we have taken him into custody for further investigation,”

He has added that the actor has been booked under Sections 376 AB (punishment for rape of woman under 12 years of age) of the Indian Penal Code, and Sections 4 (punishment for penetrative sexual assault), 8 (punishment for sexual assault), 12 (punishment for sexual harassment), 19 (reporting of offenses) and 21 (punishment for failure to report or record a case) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012.