Producer Sajid Nadiadwala’s wife Wardha, who lost her father Aziz-al-Rehman Khan on October 9, 2012, is finally breaking her silence over his untimely death. The relatives of the main accused, Shahzeb Khan – who allegedly pushed his aged uncle from his building’s fourth floor staircase – have been giving out all sorts of statements to the press since the day of the incident, and she now wants to set the record straight.
Says Wardha, “There have been several conflicting reports in the press over what happened that day between my father and Shahzeb. In fact, my aunt Salma Salim Kara has even gone so far as to claim that my father was depressed and committed suicide, which is completely untrue. I want to make it clear that my father told me himself that he had been pushed by Shahzeb. He was conscious for several hours after the fall, and gave the same statement to the police in front of my brother Mohsin in the hospital. After that, he slipped into coma and passed away. Since the statement needed to be signed, Mohsin did it and later went to the police station and filed an official complaint, but the words were my father’s own and the police officer is witness to that.”
She further adds that her family and Khalid Khan had been locked in a property dispute for many years. In particular, her father wanted the two flats above his flat in ‘H’ Wing of Saurabh Apartments in Seven Bungalows (Andheri) to be given to him, which Khalid flatly refused to do. Because of this, relations between the two families was strained. Says Wardha, “On October 7, my sister Uroosa, Mohsin and I even met Khalid chacha along with a religious leader who was helping to settle the dispute, and at that point too my uncle made some very rude statements about my father and seemed in no mood to come to a settlement. We did not tell our father about this to avoid upsetting him. My father loved his brother very much, even though they hadn’t been speaking for over a year, and wanted us to help patch things up between them. He went to Khalid chacha’s house with this same intention the morning of his death. He was a very happy man. In fact, Mohsin’s wife had just given birth to a baby girl four months ago and Mohsin himself was doing well professionally, so there was a lot of happiness in the house because of this. Furthermore, Shahzeb has a history of aggressive behaviour, so there’s no basis for their claim that our father was depressed and committed suicide.”
Wardha states that her aunts and relatives are coming out in favour of the accused only because his father controls all the properties. However, no one is above the law and Wardha has immense faith in the police and the judiciary. “I just want to set the record straight and state the facts. I have full faith in the police, the court and in Allah, and I know that my father will get justice.”
