Tunisha Sharma death case: Union Minister Ramdas Athawale asks stringent punishment for accused Sheezan

Union Minister Ramdas Athawale on Thursday said that television actor Sheezan Khan, accused in the death of his co-star Tunisha Sharma should be given stringent punishment as "he betrayed her".

[{f88e38f7-05e5-40c3-8e69-da677fc49905:intradmin/ANI-20221229090406.jfif}]

"We met and talked with Tunisha's mother for around half an hour. She wants justice and is seeking stringent punishment for the accused Sheezan Khan. We have promised her the same," Union minister Ramdas Athawale said after meeting the family members of deceased actor Tunisha Sharma, who was found dead on the sets of her ongoing show 'Alibaba - Dastaan-e-Kabul' on Saturday.

A day after her death, the Waliv Police in Maharashtra arrested her ex-boyfriend and co-star in the show, Sheezan Khan on Sunday on the charge of abetment to suicide.

Ramdas Athawale further said, "He (Sheezan) betrayed her and should be given strict punishment. Such persons should be hanged."

Addressing the media persons, Athawale also said that he has spoken to Special Public Prosecutor advocate Ujjwal Nikam as he wants the latter to present the case before the Court.

He further said that he will meet Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis soon and will also ask for financial assistance from him.

"I will meet Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and will ask him to provide Rs 25 lakh to Tunisha's family besides helping them with Rs 3 lakh from my own party as her mother disclosed that her deceased daughter was the only bread-winner in their family.

"Sheezan and Tunisha were together for three months. Although her mother did not mention anything about the Hijab as claimed, she has alleged that Sheezan was teaching her daughter Urdu," he added.

Earlier in the day, Tunisha Sharma's mother Vanita Sharma alleged that Sheezan Khan, the main accused in her daughter's death case, used to 'consume drugs', however, she could not confirm how long he was into drugs.

Tunisha's mother had earlier accused Sheezan of having relationships with several girls. The police had said they would grill Sheezan on the claim of Tunisha's mother.

The police said they have seized three mobile phones, including two iPhones, over the course of its ongoing probe in the case. It further informed that they have retrieved Sheezan's chats with Tunisha, her mother and his mother from his phone that they had seized earlier.

In an intriguing development in the said death case, lending further credence to love jihad claims, the uncle of the deceased TV actor, Pawan Sharma, has claimed that Tunisha's behaviour and lifestyle had changed after she met Sheezan Khan, her boyfriend arrested on the charge of abetment, and she even started wearing a 'Hijab' (a headscarf worn by Muslim women).

To find out what had transpired between Tunisha and Sheezan in the immediate run-up to her death, the police have also scanned the WhatsApp chats between the two.

( With inputs from ANI )