Bollywood hunk's drunken ride brings cries for justice

By RAHUL BEDI

BOMBAY - When a drunk Bollywood sex symbol killed a pavement dweller and injured four others in his four-wheel-drive he triggered a furious debate on judicial fairness.

Salman Khan's arrest for manslaughter - changed to culpable homicide after a public outcry - has become a test case for people looking for reassurance that the law treats everybody equally and that the rich cannot simply go back to their "hump-and-pump" lifestyle after a few days in jail.

Police say the 36-year-old muscled film hero had no driving licence and his vehicle had fake registration papers.

"Salman has often slipped but never been rapped," said Ruby Bhatia, a popular television chat-show host.

"The law of our land does not seem to be the same for all; some guys are above the law."

And film director Tanuja Chandra, echoing many Indians who think that little will happen to Khan, said: "Salman has got away with too much, courtesy of our legal system. This time will be no exception."

Most people want Khan to suffer for driving over the pavement dwellers as they slept outside the bakery where they worked, but fear that India's laborious legal system - it can take two generations to decide a tenancy dispute - will work to his advantage.

"The legal system is vulnerable to manipulation by the rich and influential," said Delhi lawyer Malavika Rajkotia-Luthra. "Khan is bound to get away on a technicality despite public pressure."

Similar accidents involving children of wealthy parents had been thrown out of court after witnesses conveniently turned "hostile", she said.

Khan fled the accident scene, was arrested a few hours later for manslaughter and released on bail of 950 rupees ($40).

But the subsequent media uproar led to the film star being re-arrested and thrown in a police lock-up last week for culpable homicide.

The High Court has also ordered Khan to pay 1.9 million rupees ($82,000) to the family of victim Nooru Behra and the injured, who have been incapacitated for weeks.

Bombay has more than five million slum-dwellers, 125,000 of whom sleep on pavements.

Khan, the son of a successful Bollywood scriptwriter, was voted one of the world's best looking men by People magazine in the late 1990s.

But other than his screen successes, where he is invariably cast in a Macho role, The Khan (as he is referred to in movie circles) is better known for courting controversy and for his involvement in scandals.

He has frequently made headlines for roughing up reporters and photographers, getting aggressive with his actress girlfriends, including former Miss World-turned-Bollywood-heroine Aishwarya Rai, and his arrest four years ago for poaching the black buck in western Rajasthan state.

Khan has also been questioned by police for suspected links with Bombay's underworld - drug peddling, protection rackets and contract killings have been mentioned.

But his actor friends feel that his recent break-up with the ravishing Rai has emotionally unhinged him and is responsible for his frequent drunken bouts that eventually led to last month's accident.

The former Miss World dumped Khan after he reportedly physically abused her.

He reacted by stalking her at studios, her home and at public functions.

Khan also reportedly disrupted a film shoot involving Rai by damaging cars, ripping off his shirt and shouting obscenities before eventually fainting.

He refused to leave the sets until Rai left with him.

"He turns really bad after every break-up in his love life," said film critic Indu Mirani.

"He just has not been able to handle this aspect of his life,"

Somewhere deep down Khan was very insecure, she said.

But despite his troubles, few doubt he will survive the latest setback.

Vir Sahghvi, editor of the Hindustan Times, wrote:"The rich and powerful may suffer temporary inconvenience, but they always win in the end.

"All they suffer is a few days of public humiliation."