A day after film and television actress Tunisha Sharma allegedly committed suicide by hanging herself on the sets of her serial at Vasai’s Naigaon area in the neighbouring Palghar district, her co-actor and former boyfriend Sheezan Mohammed Khan was arrested on Sunday on charges of abetting her suicide.
Twenty-year-old Tunisha, who was allegedly found dead in the toilet of lead co-actor Sheezan, was shooting for her ongoing serial “Ali Baba: Dastaan-E-Kabul”, at Vasai (East) when the incident took place at around 2.30 pm.
Acting on a complaint lodged by Tunisha’s mother Vanita Sharma, the Vasai police arrested Sheezan under section 306 (abetment of suicide) of IPC. After his arrest, Sheezan was produced before a Vasai court which remanded to police custody for four days.
The FIR registered on the complaint filed by the mother of the deceased actress stated that Tunisha and Sheezan —both of whom were starring as co-actors in serial “Ali Baba: Dastaan-E-Kabul” — were in a relationship for some time. They had broken up little over a fortnight ago.
The incident came to light during the tea break. As the actress did not come out of the toilet for a long time, the police — who rushed to the scene after one of television production officials complained — broke open the toilet door to find the actress was found hanging. She was declared dead soon after she was rushed to a nearby hospital.
The post-mortem conducted on Tunisha at the State–run JJ Hospital on Sunday morning indicated that she died of asphyxiation, There were no injury marks on her body. The police said Tunisha was under extreme stress after her break-up.
Apart from recording the statement of the deceased actress’ mother, the police have also recorded statements of 14 people — all of them associated with the television serial that the actress was shooting with Sheezan in connection with the case. The police are looking into Tunisha’s death both from the angle of suicide and mueder.
Born in 2002 in Chandigarh, Tunisha had started her career at the age of 14 as a child actress the Sony TV show ‘Bharat Ka Veer Putra — Maharana Pratap’, where she played the role of Chand Kanwar. She went act in several shows and Hindi movies. Among other things, she had worked in shows like ‘Ishq Subhan Allah’, ‘Gabbar Poonchwala’, ‘Sher-e-Punjab: Maharaja Ranjit Singh’, and ‘Chakravartin Ashoka Samrat’.
She also acted in Bollywood movies like ‘Fitoor’, ‘Baar Baar Dekho’, ‘Kahaani 2: Durga Rani Singh’, and ‘Dabangg 3’. In her complaint lodged with the police, Tunisha’s mother blamed Sheezan for the alleged suicide by her daughter. Twenty-eight-year-old Sheezan, who is being investigated for abetment to suicide, is known for his role as young Akbar in Jodha Akbar and now as Ali Baba in Ali Baba: Dastaan-E-Kabul. Sheezan had begun his acting career in 2013 in Jodha Akbar. As recently as on December 13, Sheezan had taken to his social media to share a photograph with Tunisha with a caption “Don’t Look Back!!” The photograph was from their “Ali Baba...” serial set.
Earlier on December 9, Tunisha had celebrated her friend Falaq Naazz’s birthday with Sheezan Khan. On November 19, Tunisha shared her photograph which Sheezan on her Instagam profile in which he was seen lifting her up. Tunisha heaped praise on Sheezan in the caption by saying: “Verified Happy International Men’s Day to the Man who lifts me up just like this! The most hardworking, passionate, wildly enthusiastic, and the most beautiful Man in my life! You don’t know what you are and that’s the most beautiful part. @sheezan9?? It’s time to recognize and honour the contributions and sacrifices that a man makes for his family and society! Happy International Men’s Day to all the amazing men out there!?????? (sic).”
Earlier, on Sheezan’s birthday on September 9, Tunisha posted a photograph of them were seen laughing their hearts out while lying on the ground, dressed like their characters. Tunisha termed Sheezan ‘love’ in the caption of the post.
