By India Today News Desk: Actor Chrisann Pereira, jailed in Sharjah since April 1 over a drug charge, washed her hair with laundry detergent and made coffee with toilet water in prison. Pereira, 27, recounted her harrowing time in jail in a letter.
The actor was released on Wednesday evening after 26 days in jail and is expected to reach India soon.
“Dear Warriors, it took me three weeks and five days to find pen and paper in jail. After I washed my hair with Tide and made coffee using toilet water, I watched Bollywood movies, sometimes with tears in my eyes, knowing my ambition had brought me here. I sometimes smile at our culture, our movies and the familiar faces on TV. I feel proud to be an Indian and belong to the Indian film industry,” she wrote.
Also Read | Happy tears, dance of joy: How Chrisann Pereira’s mother reacted after her release from Sharjah jail
Thanking her family, friends, police, churches, the media and everyone who believed in her innocence, she wrote: “You are the real warriors while I am just a pawn in this dirty game played by these ‘Mansters’. I am forever grateful to everyone who tweeted and reshared my story to arrest the real criminals facilitating international organised crime. We are a great powerful nation and I cannot wait to return home.”
“Thank you for saving my life and the lives of other innocent people who fell prey to this scam. May justice always prevail.”
Pereira was jailed in Sharjah on April 1 after a Borivali-based bakery owner, Anthony Paul (35), allegedly framed her in a drugs case. Paul allegedly made his friend, Rajesh Borate, pose as a talent manager, Ravi, and approach the actor who had previously worked in films like Sadak 2 and Batla House.
Also Read | Bollywood actress Chrisann Pereira, arrested in drug smuggling case, released from Sharjah jail
Borate, pretending to be Ravi, allegedly told Pereira to attend an audition for an international web series in Sharjah for which her tickets and hotels were booked. On April 1, when she was to leave for Sharjah, he allegedly handed Pereira a memento with drugs hidden in it. The accused then tipped off the Sharjah police, who arrested the actor.
A probe by the Mumbai Crime Branch revealed that Paul was allegedly upset with Pereira’s mother over a fight they had during the coronavirus pandemic and plotted his revenge. Apart from Pereira, he also tried to frame four others in a drugs case. One of them, Clayton Rodrigues, is still lodged in Sharjah Prison. The police have arrested Paul and Borate.
Also Read | Bollywood actress jailed in Sharjah, Mumbai Police arrests man for planting drugs on her
