Archana. File picture

Bhubaneswar, April 21: A 13-year-old attempt-to-rape case filed by actress Archana Joglekar ended this morning with a jail term for the accused, but the wait for justice left the victim so weary she didn’t appear in court today.

Archana, who now lives in New Jersey, had last appeared in court in 2006, nine years after the 1997 incident. But the defence lawyer had not turned up then, stalling proceedings.

Today, when a fast-track court sentenced Bhubananda Panda to 18 months of rigorous imprisonment and fined him Rs 1,500, she chose to stay away. Panda will have to spend nine more months in jail if he fails to pay the penalty.

Panda was released on bail 10 months after the incident, before being recently arrested in a cheque-bouncing case.

Lawyers said the 10 months would be deducted from the sentence and Panda would serve only eight months in the Archana case.

Earlier, Archana, who has acted in Hindi and Marathi films, had told the court that it was not possible for her to come to Bhubaneswar for every hearing. Before that, she had identified Panda at first sight.

The incident had occurred on the night of November 30, 1997, when Archana was in Bhubaneswar to shoot for an Oriya movie, Stree.

She had just returned to her room at the Orissa Tourism Development Corporation-run Panthaniwas and was in the bathroom removing her make-up when there was a knock on the door.

Archana, who had ordered dinner, opened the door, expecting it to be a guesthouse attendant.

But before she could realise, Panda, an intruder who had apparently sneaked in unnoticed by the hotel staff, forced his way in and allegedly tried to molest her, the actress had said in her complaint to police.

She had lodged two FIRs, one of attempted rape and the other of molestation, with Bargarh police station in the city. Panda was arrested the next day and sent to jail.

The chargesheet in the case was filed on February 28, 1998, but the case dragged on for years till it was transferred to the fast-track court in 2005.