Actor Sheezan Khan’s bail hearing in the Tunisha Sharma death case on Monday saw high drama when his lawyer claimed in court that Tunisha was on a 15-minute video call with someone named Ali just before she allegedly died by suicide on the sets of her TV show on December 24. Shailendra Mishra, the lawyer, further claimed that Tunisha had joined a dating app after her breakup with Sheezan and had met Ali on the app. They had even gone out on a date and were together on December 21, 22 and 23, according to Mishra.

Sheezan’s bail petition in Mumbai’s Vasai court has been adjourned till today (January 11).

When Bombay Times reached out to Tunisha’s mother, Vanita Sharma, she denied knowledge of her daughter being on a dating app but said that “she was trying to move on”. However, she confirmed that she knew about Ali.

“Tunisha had called me and said that she was meeting Ali, her gym trainer from three years ago. She went out with him in the last three days to eat out and chat. They were just friends and met thrice in December. Ab sab Ali ki galti ho gayi? Tunisha told me about meeting him but as friends. Sheezan’s lawyer claimed that my daughter didn’t return home on December 21, 22 and 23 – but that isn’t true,” said Vanita.

She added that Ali had met her on the day of Tunisha’s cremation. “He told us that Tunisha had spoken to him about Sheezan, among other things. His statement has been recorded by the police. Also, what is the big deal if she had met him? She had even met one of her former co-actors and had attended a party hosted by another actor. I don’t think Sheezan’s family and the lawyer have any option but to make these wild accusations to shift the focus from the actual issue, which is that she was disturbed because of the breakup,” said Vanita.