Showing posts with label Zara Khan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Zara Khan. Show all posts
Hyderabad marketing executive held for rape threats to actor Zara Khan
7:44 AM
V Narayan (THE TIMES OF INDIA; December 25, 2020)
Mumbai: Oshiwara police arrested a 39-year-old marketing executive from Hyderabad for allegedly stalking and posting abusive sexual content and rape threats to Pakistani-born British actor-singer Zara Khan on the latter’s social media account between October 28 and November 3. Khan is the daughter of yesteryear actor-singer Salma Agha.
The accused, Noorah Sarwar, claimed to have committed the offence after Khan blocked her Instagram account. She said that she suspected Khan of breaking her engagement. The police added that Sarwar claims to be a messenger of God. Sarwar, who is currently unemployed, has also been accused of allegedly posting threat messages to entrepreneur-model Sahil Peerzada, model-actor Kushal Tandon, producer-actor Kamal R Khan and actor Ajaz Khan.
“A probe is on to know the exact motive behind the threat messages to Khan,” said Oshiwara police senior inspector Dayanand Bangar. “Sarwar and two of her accomplices also posted threat messages to a few other celebrities during the lockdown period. We will call them to record their statements.”
In November, Khan approached Oshiwara police after receiving sexual abuse and threat posts on her Instagram page from different accounts.
In her complaint, the 28-year-old said, “I first received an offensive and threat message on October 28 telling me to remove all my photos, videos and stories from my Instagram page. I ignored it. But two days later, I received a rape threat from another account. The matter worsened on November 3, when I received abusive and threatening posts from a third account.”
Based on the complaint, zonal deputy commissioner of police Abhishek Trimukhe supervised the team-— Bangar, assistant inspector Nitin Gije and detection staffers — that tracked Sarwar through the internet protocol and mobile IMEI number from her rented flat in Karim Nagar, Hyderabad, Telangana on November 28.
On December 5, the police team issued a notice to Sarwar asking her to present herself at Oshiwara police station in Mumbai. They also seized her phone and sent it to the forensic laboratory to recover the messages that she allegedly posted on the actor-singer’s Instagram page. As she did not turn up, two more notices were sent to her.
She finally came to Mumbai on Wednesday and was arrested. On Thursday, Sarwar was produced before Andheri metropolitan magistrate’s court, which remanded her in police custody till December 26.
I had to lock myself up in my house for more than a month, reveals Salma Agha's daughter Zara Khan
8:31 AM
Actor Zara Khan narrates her three-month ordeal as Hyderabad woman went after her with vicious online threats
Shirish Vaktania (MID-DAY; December 8, 2020)
Zara Khan, actor Salma Agha's daughter, was so traumatised by the obscene threat messages she had been receiving since October, that she had locked herself up in her house and stopped going to work. The Oshiwara police on Monday seized the mobile phone of the Hyderabad-based accused who allegedly sent the obscene and threatening messages to Khan. Sunday mid-day had reported that Khan had registered a complaint with the Oshiwara police after receiving the threats.
Khan, who is also an actress and singer, told mid-day that for over a month she was in trauma after receiving many such messages. Khan believed that the accused was a man from Mumbai and he followed her every day.
However, the Oshiwara police found the accused is a woman from Hyderabad. She was identified as 23-year-old Noorah Saravar, a student. She was slapped with a notice by Oshiwara police to appear in court on December 12. They are still investigating the motive behind the messages.
Khan said, "From October I have been receiving abusive and obscene messages on my Instagram page from four different accounts. I didn't reply to any of them, but later I got death threats from them. I was scared and locked myself at home. I also stopped working and avoided social media. Then my relatives also started receiving such messages on their social media accounts. After a month, I registered a complaint."
She further said, "Instagram should put some restrictions in their application for the safety of women."
Zone 9 DCP Abhishek Trimukhe said, "We sent a notice to the accused to appear in court and will record her statement. She has told us that she sent the messages due to some personal reasons."
Earlier Oshiwara police had registered the case under Sections 354 (a) (making sexually coloured remarks), 354 (b) (Assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe), 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman), 506 (Punishment for criminal intimidation) of the India Penal Code (IPC) and Information Technology Act 67 (a) (Punishment for publishing or transmitting of material containing sexually explicit act, etc.
However, when the Oshiwara police found that the accused is a woman, they removed sections 354 (a) and 354 (b).
Actor Zara Khan receives rape threats online; cops track suspect
8:00 AM
Actor Zara Khan trolled by female MBA student from Hyderabad on social media; cops register complain, but say accused, an MBA student, is mentally unstable
Shirish Vaktania (MID-DAY; December 6, 2020)
Pakistani-born British actor Salma Agha's daughter Zara Khan has registered a case at Oshiwara police after she received rape threats on her Instagram account.
Khan, an actor and singer, has worked in various Bollywood movies, including Aurangzeb, and Desi Kattey. In her complaint, she said that between October 28 and November 3, she received many abusive messages on her Instagram account from an unknown person.
The Oshiwara police learnt that the accused is a 23-year-old female MBA student from Hyderabad. Senior inspector Dayanand Bangar, Oshiwara police station said, "After actor Zara Khan approached us, we informed the cyber department and took help from the Instagram team and traced the accused on the basis of the local IP address."
The accused, identified as Noorah Saravar, had created a fake account on Instagram. "She told the investigating officer that Khan and her co-workers were working with a political party and targetting her. During probe, we learnt that she is mentally unstable. We have sent the accused a notice [41(A) CRPC (Notice of appearance before police officer]," said Inspector Bangar. He also mentioned that the police are yet to establish a motive behind the threatening messages. A case has been registered against the accused under sections 354 (a), 354(b), 509, 506 and Information Technology Act 67(a) of Indian Penal Code.
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V Narayan (THE TIMES OF INDIA; December 7, 2020)
Mumbai: The Oshiwara police recently registered a case against a Hyderabad-based MBA student for threatening Pakistan-born British actor Salma Agha’s daughter, actor Zara Khan. The case was filed after she received rape threats on her Instagram account between October 28 and November 3. Till date, no arrest has been made.
Based on the complaint, the police took help from the cyber police to track down the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the fake Instagram account holder identified as Noorah Saravar (23). The police have asked her to be present for questioning. In the complaint, the actress said she received several abusive messages on her Instagram account from someone she did not know.
Oshiwara Senior inspector Dayanand Bangar told TOI, “We informed the cyber police and traced the suspect. She said the actress and her co-workers were working with a political party and had been targeting her, which made her commit the offence. We have sent her a notice to appear before the police.”
The officer added that they were yet to find out Saravar’s motive behind the messages.
Khan, an actor and singer, has worked in several Bollywood movies, including ‘Aurangzeb’, and ‘Desi Kattey’.
Why this short film by Zara Khan and Raj Babbar's niece Kajri is a must-watch
8:14 AM
Salma Agha's daughter, Zara Khan, and Raj Babbar's niece, Kajri, bring a short film on a Punjabi bride's determination to track down the NRI groom who had abandoned her
Dinesh Raheja (MID-DAY; March 25, 2018)
Three-and-a-half decades ago, singer-actress Salma Agha and actor Raj Babbar made waves with the 1982 blockbuster Nikaah; now Babbar's niece Kajri Babbar and Agha's daughter Zara Khan (aka Sasha Agha), have joined forces to make a short film, Khoj, on the subject of young Punjabi brides who are abandoned by their NRI husbands. Khoj is scheduled to open at the Shorts Corner at the Cannes film festival in May 2018, and Zara is excited at the prospect of walking the red carpet.
In the film, however, Khan doesn't sport a glamorous look. The actress says, "I play a 19-year-old from a small village in Punjab who can't speak English properly and is married off to an NRI. Abandoned by her husband, she tracks him down in London. It was difficult for me to relate to my character's way of living and her body language, but her spirit appealed to me. Nothing can break her. And this is something I wish for women of all ages."
Director Kajri Babbar, currently completing her Masters in film direction at Arts University, Bournemouth, UK, speaks on the issue her film tackles with the fervour of youth, "I wanted to tell the world the story of a strong Punjabi woman. During my research, I contacted the NRI wing of Punjab Police and they connected me with women who had been deserted by their husbands. What shocked me was that most of the girls were still in their teens!"
Zara acknowledges the role that her and Kajri's shared family history played in getting them together for this project. "Thanks to mom and Raj uncle's association, we all are very close," she says. When she saw Kajri's first short film, Pardaa (2017), Zara messaged the director expressing her desire to work with her. Kajri responded with the script of Khoj. "We did a reading through Skype and she thought I was perfect for the role. Together, we created Gurpreet Kaur Bedi."
Though mother Salma chided her for letting her "monkey ears" show on screen because of her character's hair-pulled-back look, Zara is all praise for the film's makeup artist Charlotte Annice Spruch for making her character look authentic. Zara's personal contribution was: "long hair that really helped me look like a sardarni."
By agreeing to look her part, Zara won over Kajri who had been sceptical about the actress' willingness to accept the deglamorised part of a pregnant young girl with chapped lips and dark circles under her eyes. Zara reasons, "My job as an actor is to look the part, so paint me red, blue, yellow, or do whatever because when I'm in front of the camera, I submit myself to the director completely. I can look pretty at any given time, but to look real is my kind of beautiful."
Realism enthuses Kajri too. Groomed and raised to be a socially responsible individual, the director believes that her work should convey her convictions. Kajri attributes the fascination for NRI grooms to the belief that "India is still living under a colonial hangover. We believe everything from abroad is better including the food, money, cars, brands, government and even Indian men born on foreign land."
She adds, "In a country like ours, women should stand together and help each other but we hear several horrible cases of mothers-in-law torturing their daughters-in-law or even grandmothers abandoning their granddaughters because they are female. The issue of patriarchy becomes even more complex with the participation of women; and that frustrates me the most. This film was my subtle way of conveying the frustration."
The climax of the 28-minute film offers education as the key to empowerment. But Kajri agrees that the problem needs to be addressed at various levels. She cautions against choosing a life partner in haste and says, "Families should conduct a proper background check on the groom; from the passport to the bank accounts, everything should be verified. And it is crucial for any woman to have legal proof of marriage especially if the man is a citizen of another country."
Zara draws solace from the fact that "Union Minister Kiren Rijju went to the United Kingdom and negotiated an agreement to resolve the issue of Indians abandoning wives and aged parents back home in India." For Zara, Khoj is her chance to set her film career back on track after her debut Aurangzeb failed. Zara smiles, "A YRF film is every actor's dream launch but unfortunately Aurangzeb did not do well and everyone presumed that I was just a pretty face. But whoever has seen Khoj has said, 'Oh we didn't know you were such a good actor!'"
Kajri Babbar
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