Mumbai: Nawazuddin Siddiqui's wife, Aaliya Siddiqui, who had send a legal notice to the actor demanding for divorce and maintenance, has also alleged that her in-laws have mentally and physically tortured her and that they have a habit of behaving horribly with the wives of their house.
Aaliya, originally known as Anjali Kishor Pandey, said that her marital problems weren't a recent occurrence. "Problems had begun from long before, from the time I got married (to Nawaz), but I wasn't bringing them forward. I was trying to solve these issues, waiting for them to get better, so I finally had to take this decision. There are many reasons why I finally took this decision," she said.
Aaliya elaborated that she was forced to take the drastic step. "Actually, my self-respect was gradually being destroyed. The way you are your raised in the house you come from, how your mother and brother take care of you, and then you are suddenly forced to change your religion...anyway, that was necessary to get married, so I did it for him when he had asked me to. But then your life changes so badly, that you realise that you were nothing in his life, you never were anything. You were just living alone with his children for ten years, you had to do everything alone. So, I decided to end it. After all, when I'm doing everything alone, then why not actually stay alone," she explained.
Speaking about the instances of physical violence in the Siddiqui family, Aaliya said: "He (Nawaz) had never raised his hands on me, but the shouting and arguments had become unbearable. You could say though that only that was left. Yes, but his family has mentally and physically tortured me a lot. His brother had even hit me. His mother and brothers and sisters-in-law used to stay with us only in Mumbai. So, I've been bearing a lot for too many years. His first wife had also left him for this reason alone. It's a pattern. There are already seven cases registered by the wives of their house against them, and four divorces have taken place. This is the fifth one. It's a pattern in his family. You leave a lot to avoid embarrassment before others, but how much can you take in love. My sister is supporting me as my father and mother are no more, and my brother had passed away last December."
READ | Nawazuddin's wife wants sole custody of children
Apart from these, Aaliya also made some shocking revelations, saying "However big an actor you've become, what's the point if you're not a good person? What's the point if you can't respect your wife and kids? Our kids don't even remember when their father last visited them. It's been 3-4 months since he's met his kids, but he doesn't care, so even the kids have become used to it and don't ask about him. I want the sole custody for my kids. Some people can't handle fame and Nawaz is one of them. And I've tolerated too much of disrespect at home. I've now decided to remove his name from me and create my own identity. At the beginning of our marriage, he had told me that it's enough that for us that he's the sole breadwinner. I don't know what I will do, but I want to live life with respect, not as the wife of a star."
Opening up about how her husband used to demean her, Aaliya said: "Nawaz would keep telling me that I don't know anything, I don't know how to speak, which is why he couldn't take me in front of others. He wanted me to not speak in front of others as he didn't feel I could. I didn't want to always speak, but how can you disrespect your wife like this. I was even admitted for panic attacks due to this, some time ago. I want to remove this chapter from my life as a bad dream."
