The actress was rushed to a suburban hospital on Monday after a producer stabbed her on the streets of Mumbai for allegedly rejecting his marriage proposal
Tanvi Trivedi (BOMBAY TIMES; October 30, 2020)

On Monday night, actress Malvi Malhotra was stabbed with a knife on a busy road in Versova by an acquaintance for allegedly turning down his marriage proposal. The 29-year-old model-turned-actress was rushed to a suburban hospital, where she is currently being treated. Talking to BT, Malvi, who was seen on the TV show Udaan and was also a part of the Bollywood film Hotel Milan as well as some South films, says, “I never expected this man to attack me like this.”

The accused, producer Yogesh Mahipal Singh, met with an accident soon after the incident and was admitted to a hospital. On Tuesday night, the Mumbai Police traced him at a Vasai hospital. An FIR had been registered against Singh under various Indian Penal Code sections, including 307 (attempt to murder), at the Versova Police Station.

Recalling her interaction with the accused before the attack, Malvi shares, “For the last few months, he always spoke to me with respect and never crossed his limits. So, I was shaken, when on October 26 he attacked me. He parked his car 100 metres away, came towards me with a knife and stabbed me in the stomach. When I hid my face with my hands, he injured my hands. In the past few months, we had spoken a few times for work reasons, but later, when he proposed marriage, I started doubting his intentions. I blocked him on social media, so that he could not approach me. But he started stalking me and I had to warn him that I would complain to the police. Even when I came back from Dubai recently, he continued to stalk me. I kept ignoring him because I never imagined that he would try to kill me.”

Malvi got to know the accused through social media. Talking about it, the actress says, “Social media has its positive and negative aspects. A person gets popularity through social media, but your life is like an open book since we post pictures and updates. It is addictive, too. You have to be careful about what you share, and in my case, it has affected my personal life in a big way.” She further adds, “Despite this incident, I am not cynical about showbiz. There are good people and there are also those who become monsters.”
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I HOPE MALVI GETS JUSTICE: SHIVYA PATHANIA

The incident has left Malvi’s friends and family members deeply disturbed. TV actress Shivya Pathania, Malvi’s friend since her college days, gets emotional as talks about it. She says, “I am shocked and at a loss of words. How can a man stab a woman because she rejected his proposal? For how long will women have to endure such ghastly attacks?”

Talking about Malvi, Shivya shares, “One keeps reading about such incidents, but you understand the gravity of the situation when it happens to someone close to you. I plead to the authorities for justice to be given to Malvi soon. We need to take strict action against such men.”

Shivya says that women often face such situations, but tend to ignore them. “We are single women who come to Mumbai in search of a career and in the process, meet many people from the industry. You won’t always know whether someone is good or evil,” she says, adding, “I remember, someone had impersonated me on social media though I was never on it. Such incidents, even if they seem small, should be reported to the police. I hope and pray that Malvi recovers from this shock soon and gets justice.”