Actress Chrisann Pereira’s mother Premila reveals her daughter’s harrowing ‘drug mule’ incident in detail, says ‘My daughter is surrounded by criminals in jail’ – Exclusive – Times of India
As surreal as the story sounds, it gets even more bizarre when Chrisann’s mother Premila reveals minute details about her daughter’s episode and her supposed altercation with Paul, who is a bakery owner. ETimes spoke to Premila who explained everything about her daughter’s misfortune and their prepetrator’s maniacal obsessions.
In Premila’s own words…
‘We have to submit the FIR in Arabic to get my daughter’s case resolved’
I have no clue about my daughter returning. It’s going to take days. There’s no clarity about that. There’s a process to be followed over there in Sharjah where we have to give the FIR in Arabic. It is very important to me that this gets resolved immediately. Every day is a delay for me. I’m going to the Mantralaya, I hope I get the documentation.
I speak to my daughter every morning. Yesterday she was happy that Anthony and Ravi got arrested but today she was upset because she happened to have a conversation with the police and they laughed at her and said, “You’re going to be here for many days.” It’s so difficult to handle her emotions while we are here and she is there. That is why I want her to be out. I want the Government to know that she’s innocent and doesn’t deserve to be there even for a single day. They’re holding my daughter there with criminals around her, there are insects around her. I just want the Government to move fast. They cannot treat her as a normal case. They have to consider that she’s proven to be innocent.
‘My daughter is loved by everyone, people are trying to help’
Chrisann’s drama school principal Jehan has reached out to me with help. He tried to get her help from overseas too. Many people are trying, praying and reaching out. She’s loved by everyone. Our people are united and believing that she’s innocent. And we have proved that she’s innocent. Now we need movement in Sharjah. Otherwise we will breakdown. We cannot take it further that they’re going to be slow. They need to get her bail and get her out of jail. I don’t want that comfort of AC and food for her in jail, I want my daughter out of jail.
‘I fought with Anthony over a stray dog’
Every criminal has a motive and there’s some revenge angle. Anthony came to visit his sister one day. I didn’t know who he was. I saw him throwing a chair at a stray dog in our building compound. The stray barked at him, maybe the dog smelled something fishy. The stray never attacked others. But when Anthony came she barked at him. So, he picked up a chair and threw it at the dog. I didn’t like that. I came to know that he had come to his sister’s house who had come to stay in our building a year ago. That time he picked up an argument with me about the dog. I don’t remember the argument well but I definitely picked a fight with him. His mother came and patted on his back saying he has a temper issue. After that I never had an issue with him. We met a few times when he came to his sister’s house. He was friendly. Over the year, he tried to build a relationship. He has a bakery shop in our colony where we go to buy cakes and bread. That’s how he built a rapport with me. He wanted to take me to Hyderabad for a year.
‘Chrisann is wary of strangers but these scammers were too smart’
My daughter never bothered about Anthony. His brother is a fashion designer and Anthony claims his brother works with Ekta Kapoor. So he used to say that he’ll get my daughter connected. But my daughter is very particular about her career. She doesn’t go for just any audition. That’s why I’m worried, how did she get scammed into this? She has come out of drama school and trained very well. She’s very particular about who she meets and what work she takes on.
She went to the audition because this person was my contact and that’s the only reason she met him. He quoted a good production house’s name which she hasn’t revealed to me yet. She got a little convinced. But he pushed it too far. He met her on March 25 and he bought the tickets on March 27 to go for the audition on April 1. My daughter didn’t have to do anything. Her passport validity was till April 10. He told her that she was the only actor left to be finalized so she better fly ASAP. She was flying to UAE on April 1 and flying back on April 2. It was just a day so she didn’t mind traveling. She’s a very active, positive, enthusiastic and ambitious girl. She did her verification and all concerned processes. The scammers were too smart. They had studied everything.
‘Anthony is a psychopath, he has taken revenge for silly things’
I remember this only one incident. But he mentioned during investigation that probably something to do with a mask during the COVID pandemic. But I don’t remember an incident like that. I do remember that his sister moved in to our building during the COVID lockdown. I had put a question to the committee about why they allowed the shifting to happen when the Government had not permitted it. I had only questioned them, I did not stop them from moving in. Why should he hold it against me? In fact, when they were getting new grills installed at their apartment, I supported them. I have also been good to them. Anthony is a psychopath. He has taken revenge for silly things.
‘Chrisann took the trophy filled with cannabis to the police in Sharjah’
When my daughter landed in Dubai, Ravi gave her a ticket to Sharjah. It was a red flag for Chrisann and she immediately questioned him. When she landed in Sharjah, she passed the immigration, she checked her phone and the messages got deleted. She called the hotel but found that there was no booking in her name. She’s very particular about her hotel bookings. They really troubled her to give her any information. She was very stressed. She was brought to a point of anxiety. Throughout the week they made sure that she was troubled and anxious. She immediately called her father and told him that she has been scammed. She was stranded without a hotel booking. So, her father told her to book a return ticket and come back in the flight next morning.
That’s when Chrisann revealed to her father that the guy Ravi had given her a trophy to be given to a client. Her father doubted the situation and asked Chrisann to send a picture. When she sent a picture, her father told her to throw the thing in the dustbin and come back by the next flight. My son was not up for it though.
My son thought it was better to give the trophy to the police. So, to confirm the decision, they called me in Hyderabad at 2:20 am. I also thought, why should she throw it in the bin. It is the right decision to give it to the police. So, my daughter went to the police to report the scam. They questioned her, doubted her and then arrested her. It took them 20 minutes to break the trophy. They found that there were some cannabis seeds inside the trophy. Khaskhas is allowed in India but not in Sharjah. The scamsters knew the rules in both countries and I am sure they’ve been scamming other people, too. They knew that if Chrisann get trapped in Sharjah she’ll never come out. It will take 7-8 months.
‘Why did Indian immigration clear her?’
Now, the question is how did she go through immigration? They should be careful in India with these things. The machine should pick it up, right? Why should our citizens go to another country and get stuck there? But my daughter passed the immigration in UAE, too. If she was guilty, why would she go back to the airport and give the tropht back and surrender and tell the police that she was scammed? Why should they hold her guilty and accuse her? They accused her saying that she’s in a relationship with Ravi and that she brought the trophy with her. My daughter told them to check her bank account for money transactions. She didn’t have any such transactions.
But, she cannot prove anything there in Sharjah. We’re stuck in two different countries with different laws and these scamsters have planned it all. We want to raise awareness so that other people don’t get stuck. It was not a parcel that my daughter was aware of. It was like a trophy. No one would even think that someone can put something inside it.
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