Shweta Basu Prasad, the young actress who was arrested for prostitution some days ago, has at least one person speaking out in her defence - her TV mother Sakshi Tanwar. Shweta, who was a successful child artist with a National Award-winning role in 2002 film Makdee, played the daughter of Sakshi's character Parvati on popular soap Kahani Ghaar Ghar Kii for a while.
In an article in DNA, Sakshi describes the then-nine-year-old actress as "very sweet and talented" and says that Shweta wished her on Mother's Day for each of the 13 years that has passed since. In her piece, Sakshi asks why Shweta, now 23, has become the focus of the prostitution scandal while the identities of her "businessman" clients have not been disclosed.
Sakshi writes: "Honestly, I'm quite disappointed that the media reports have so selectively guarded their identity and names. I have no interest in knowing about those degenerate "businessmen", but I would have loved to see their names come to the fore so that their families - mothers, daughters, sisters and wives - and friends would get an insight into their recreational habits."
Sakshi also writes about where Shweta is right now and the fact that her real mother has not been allowed to meet her yet: "I don't know her reasons and problems, and I don't know any solutions either... All I know is that she is kept in a remand home and that she has apparently given a statement accepting it. At least she has been brave enough to accept it (as per the reports). I had been intending to write this piece since I got to know about it, but I wanted to first speak to her. Unable to do that, I did manage to talk to her real life mother today. How many of us know that her mother has not been allowed to meet her in the remand home yet? How many of us know that the attending judge has told her mother that she is cheering up kids and other women in the remand home by talking about music and life. Her mother is feeling deprived, dejected and even defeated...and understandably so. She has a few very valid questions - "My daughter is not a criminal, why is her name being maligned like this? What if this irresponsible reporting along with her photographs by the media has a long-lasting scarring impact on her? What if tomorrow she finds it impossible to carry the bitter remains of her life and takes a drastic step, God forbid..."
"In a country where even rapists and murderers are given the right to privacy, why has Shweta's right been violated?," asks Sakshi.
Sakshi's is not the lone voice urging authorities to name and shame Shweta's clients. Shahid director Hansal Mehta tweeted last week:
Stop posting pictures of Shweta. Put out the pictures of her wealthy clients and the pimp. Expose the scumbags not the soft target.
- Hansal Mehta (@mehtahansal) September 4, 2014Mr Mehta has also said he may have a film offer for Shweta.
Actress Aditi Rao Hydari tweeted:
A girl is in the news and in prison for prostitution, why not her high profile clients? We are so damn sexist... #Pathetic #FullOfMCP'S
- Aditi Rao Hydari (@aditiraohydari) September 5, 2014In contrast, Mardaani star Rani Mukerji reportedly declined to comment on the prostitution scandal when asked to at a recent interaction with the press.
Shweta, who also appeared in the acclaimed film Iqbal, revealed that she turned to prostitution after being strapped for cash. "I was out of money. I had to support my family and some other good causes. All the doors were closed, and some people encouraged me to get into prostitution to earn money. I was helpless, and with no option left to choose, I got involved in this act," news agency IANS quoted her as saying to police sources. Shweta will reportedly stay in the remand home she has been moved to from jail for three months.
