‘Shraddha case forced break-up with Tunisha,’ Sheezan Khan tells cops
Television actor Sheezan Khan, who has been arrested in connection with co-actor Tunisha Sharma’s alleged suicide, has reportedly told police that he broke up with her because he was “disturbed by the atmosphere in the country after the gruesome murder of Shraddha Walkar.”
Khan was being interrogated by police during his first day in police custody on Monday when he reportedly said he was wary of their different faiths and age gap. According to news agency ANI, he said he ended his relationship with Sharma after seeing the media coverage of the Shraddha Walkar case. He claimed to have told Sharma that belonging to different communities and their age gap were hurdles in their relationship. Sheezan is 28; Tunisha was 20.
Claim of previous suicide bid
According to Khan, Sharma had tried to kill herself on an earlier occasion as well after they broke up. “Tunisha had tried to commit suicide a few days before her death, but I saved her at that time and told Tunisha’s mother to take special care of her,” police sources quoted Khan as saying, according to ANI.
Also read: TV actor Tunisha Sharma found dead on set; co-actor booked for ‘abetting suicide’
Walkar was killed in May, allegedly by her live-in boyfriend Aftab Poonawala, who allegedly chopped up her body into 35 pieces and dumped them in several places. Once it came to light in November, the case was discussed as much for its gruesomeness as for the Hindu-Muslim relationship angle. For the right wing, it was yet another example of “love jihad,” a term coined by them to denote a supposed conspiracy by Muslim men to marry Hindu women and convert them into Islam.
“Marriage promise”
Sharma’s mother, on the other hand, has alleged that Khan “cheated and used” her daughter. Khan was arrested on Sunday on charges of abetting Sharma’s suicide after her mother lodged a complaint. According to the FIR, the two actors broke up a fortnight back, which may have left Sharma distressed, pushing her to take her life.
The actor’s mother Vanita has alleged that Khan broke up with the actor after promising to marry her. “Despite being involved with another woman, he continued a relationship with Tunisha. He used her for three or four months. I just want to say that Sheezan should be punished; he should not be spared. I have lost my child,” she said in a video message, thanking the media for its support.
Also read: NCP slams Maharashtra’s move to collect data on inter-faith couples
Sharma was found hanging in a washroom on the set during shooting on December 24. She reportedly had lunch with Khan earlier on that day. A Vasai court remanded Khan in four-day police custody on Sunday. The police have sent the two actors’ mobile phones to the forensic lab for the calls and chats between the two to be retrieved.
(With agency inputs)
