Mumbai: Actor Sheezan Khan’s family members on Monday claimed that he was falsely implicated in the case of death of co-star Tunisha Sharma by the latter’s mother. Addressing a press conference, Mr Khan’s mother and two sisters said Ms Sharma was “like their family member” and alleged the victim’s mother used to force her to work even as she wanted to enjoy life.
Ms Sharma, 21, who acted in the show ‘Ali Baba: Dastaan-E-Kabul’, was found hanging in the washroom on the set of the serial near Vasai in Palghar on December 24. Mr Khan was arrested on December 25 on the charge of abetment to suicide.
Tunisha Sharma’s mother Vanita Sharma last week said her daughter’s death could be a case of murder, and also accused Mr Khan and his family of trying to force her daughter to convert.
She also alleged that Ms Sharma had checked the phone of Mr Khan, with whom she was in a relationship before breaking up recently, and found his WhatsApp chats with some other woman.
When Ms Sharma confronted Mr Khan about it, he slapped her, Vanita Sharma had alleged.
Responding to the allegations, Mr Khan’s sister Falaq Naaz, also an actor, said Ms Sharma was “like their family member”. Ms Naaz said Ms Sharma and her mother used to come to their home on many occasions. “We never forced anyone to do anything,” she said.
Mr Khan’s mother said Ms Sharma’s mother should produce evidence for the allegations that she has been making against him.
On the allegation that Mr Khan had slapped Ms Sharma once during a shoot, the accused actor’s mother asked, “Why had Vanita Sharma not complained to us or slapped Sheezan?”
Ms Naaz said everyone knew how Ms Sharma’s mother used to call her several times in a day.
“We also want justice for Tunisha, but her mother is trying to falsely implicate Sheezan in the case, that is not correct,” she said.
“We had decided to give Tunisha a surprise on her birthday on January 4. Her mother also knows she was like our younger sister. We had spent around six months with Tunisha which she enjoyed, and we are proud of it,” Ms Naaz said.
On the allegations that Ms Sharma was forced to wear a hijab and visit a dargah, she said, “We never asked her to do anything.” Referring to a picture of Ms Sharma wearing a hijab that has now gone viral, Mr Khan’s another sister claimed that the actor wore the headscarf for a shoot.
