Kolkata police have charged India pacer Mohammad Shami under several sections of the IPC, including the non-bailable ones of attempt to murder, rape, assault and criminal intimidation, on the basis of a complaint filed by his wife, alleging domestic violence and infidelity.
A senior officer said that a notice would soon be sent to Shami asking him to present before investigators. Shami's mother Anjuman Ara Begum, sister Sabina Anjum, brother Mohd Hasib Ahmed and his wife Shama Parveen were also booked. Police filed the FIR on the basis of Hasin Jahan's complaint.
"Kolkata police's detective department has already started an investigation. We will look into all the allegations and carry out a thorough probe," joint commissioner (crime) Praveen Tripathi said. "The sections merit Shami's arrest, but the cops do not need him in their custody as it is a marital dispute. Moreover, he is so famous that he cannot flee without being noticed. But he may be arrested if he refuses to cooperate," a criminal lawyer said. A police picket was posted outside Jahan's apartment in Jadavpur.
Jahan alleged that, last December, Shami had forced her into a room at the family's Amroha residence in Uttar Pradesh with his elder brother and locked the door. "He said since I was a model, these things should not bother me much and forced me into a room with his brother, who started touching me inappropriately. He opened the door and let me go only when I screamed," she alleged.
Shami, reacting to these allegations, told reporters in Amroha, that his wife might have lost her mental balance. "I don't know what she is up to. She needs to explain what has changed so much in these few days. We even had a great Holi celebration earlier this month. Now she is suddenly levelling all these accusations on me. I think she has lost her mental balance or it might be her plan to sabotage my career," he said.
