Actor Shafaq Naaz, sister of actor Sheezan Khan, who was accused of abetting co-star Tunisha Sharma’s suicide, shared on Instagram how the “last six months have been a horrifying nightmare”. In the post, Naaz mentioned that there were times she abused herself. Now, in an exclusive chat with HT City, she shares that she’s still “struggling to process what happened”.

Naaz elaborates, “At times, it’s all so overwhelming. No one has any idea what I am going through. People have created an image of me and my family. Every time I go on social media, I see such harsh comments against us. They don’t think before writing things like, ‘Yeh toh murderer ki behen hai’. I can’t say mujhe farak nahin padta. It breaks me.”

On top of this hatred online, it’s the behaviour by her own fraternity that is bothering Naaz. “Everyone was aware about what we were going through. All I expected from them (the industry) was to show support and have faith in me. But, I didn’t get any of that,” says Naaz, revealing that she even lost out on two projects during this tough phase because of her weight.

Owing to the unrealistic expectations along with the negativity on social media, the Ghum Hai Kisikey Pyaar Meiin actor reached a stage where she resorted to self-harm. “In the process of understanding what’s happening around you, you end up doing things that you would not otherwise do. Also, when you have people around to look after, your own well-being takes a back-seat. That’s what happened in my case. My family became my priority. But, now I’m really trying to move out of this phase and taking help because I’m unable to deal with this alone... I don’t want to be called a bechari. I just want everyone to know that an actors’ life is not all glitter,” she concludes.