JOIN USSheena, Mikhail my kids: Siddhartha
Siddhartha Das, who on Tuesday claimed he was in a live-in relationship with arrested media baron Indrani Mukherjea, also said that he is the biological father of Sheena Bora and her brother Mikhail.
Das’s words ended theories about the parentage of Sheena, who was allegedly murdered by her mother Indrani in April 2012. Das also said whoever has killed Sheena should be hanged.
“I’m the father of both Sheena and Mikhail. Sheena was born on February 11, 1987, and Mikhail on September 9, 1988. I haven’t seen them since Indrani left me in 1989,” Das told reporters.
‘Never married Indrani’
With a motorbike helmet covering his face throughout, he said he never had a formal marriage with Indrani and the two children were born out of wedlock. He, however, added that her parents approved of him and they stayed at their house in Guwahati. Das, who met Indrani in Shillong in 1986 when she was studying at Lady Keane College, said he left the Bora house after Indrani “dumped” him in 1989.
“I tried to get in touch with Sheena and Mikhail several times but their grandparents never let me talk to them. The only time I was able to get in touch with her was when Sheena was in Class X. She told me about talking to her mother from time to time but they always got into fights,” he said. He left Guwahati for Arunachal Pradesh in 1990 and came to Kolkata after 1997.
Das, who got to know about Sheena’s death through news reports on August 25, said: “Her killers should be punished. I felt upset when I realised it was my daughter. After my name cropped up in news reports, I told my wife about my relationship with Indrani and the two children.”
Das, who works in a confectionery firm as a manager, said although the police did not contact him, he is ready to cooperate and willing to undergo a DNA test.
Terming Indrani “highly ambitious” and “money-minded”, he said: “She wanted the good things in life. She probably left me because I was unable to provide her all that. I was without a job, young and immature. I never tried to get in touch with Indrani because we belonged to different strata of the society,” he said. In a TV interview, however, Das claimed to know nothing about her rise up the ranks.
His wife Babli, who fell ill after parrying media persons throughout the day, said: “What happened so many years back is of no consequence to me. My husband has kept me happy and has been faithful to me during our 17 years of marriage.” Just like her husband, Babli refused to be photographed.