Indian tennis star Sania Mirza’s wedding plans took a dramatic turn Sunday as Hyderabad resident Ayesha Siddiqui, who claims to be the first wife of Shoaib Malik, filed a case of cheating against the Pakistani cricketer after he denied marrying her.
Ayesha also accused Malik, the former Paksitani skipper, of trying to buy her silence for $1 million, muddying the waters ahead of the April 15 marriage of Sania and Shoaib.
In her complaint at the Banjara Hills police station, Ayesha also complained that Shoaib was warning her to keep mum and was going ahead with his marriage Sania without her consent or without divorcing her.
Ayesha filed the complaint under sections 498 A (harassment), 420 (cheating) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.
Police said they would investigate the complaint before taking any action. “We have only received a complaint. We will go into it before taking further action,” said Assistant Commissioner of Police R. Ravinder Reddy.
Legal experts said if a case is booked against Shoaib, his passport may be seized and he may be prevented from leaving India until the investigations are completed.
Ayesha told a television channel that she hated Shoaib with passion and said she was determined to see the Pakistani punished for cheating her.
She hit back hours after Shoaib issued a statement claiming that no ‘nikah’ took place with Ayesha and hence there was no need for him to divorce her before marrying Sania.
The Pakistani batsman accused Ayesha of emotionally forcing him into the marriage but quoted Muslim religious leaders to say that the marriage was not valid as he had signed ‘nikahnama’ believing that he was marrying the girl whose photographs were sent to him by Ayesha but who turned out to be someone else.