Sania Mirza, Ayesha slug it out in public

In a TV interview, Ayesha said she wanted an apology from him which the cricketer has ruled out. She accused Shoaib of lying that he did not know her. She also denied that pictures of another girl had been shown to Shoaib to mislead him as he claimed. She also denied the allegation that he had been introduced to her and addressed her as apa (elder sister).

“I never sent him pictures.. we met in Sharjah,” she said. They had spent a few days in a five star hotel in Hyderabad after marriage and that he stayed in her house here whenever he visited Hyderabad.

She believes that success has “gone to his head” and he felt she was “not good enough for him”. He kept asking her to lose weight which she took lightly in the beginning but when the demand became insistent she even underwent a surgery.

At the same time, while addressing mediapersons alongwith Sania, Shoaib said he has not done anything wrong and questioned why Ayesha was not appearing in public to make her allegations. “I just want to ask something. I don’t know exactly why she is making these allegations behind the camera. Where is she. Ten years back I was 18 years old. Find out her age,” said Shoaib.

He said first she has to prove (the marriage) in a court of law but maintained that the ‘nikahnama’ was invalid. Better leave the issue to courts, he said. Both he and Sania said they were from respectable families with the tennis star adding that “to see my future husband like this (answering questions about marriage) is painful for both  families.”

“I’m here for the marriage and to clear my name. I’m not leaving the country. Inshallah, I’ll clear my name. I have no objections (to police taking the passport) and I’m cooperating with the police and Indian government. I have got respect for the authorities and I will do everything to clear my name. I’m ready to face any type of questions,” Shoaib said.

Sania interjected to say that “we are all from very respectable families. These are questions people (don’t) face before getting married. That is not what we want. We want to clear his name and as an Indian, it’s my responsibility and our responsibility to let the police investigate.”

She also questioned the ‘nikahnama’ saying “if there was no ‘nikah’, it cannot be proved. If the court proves, then he will do whatever is required. If it is not proved by them, then we know, our families know what to do.”

Shoaib ridiculed the Siddiqui family’s demand for divorcing their daughter before the impending marriage saying, “I know only Maha apa. Please for God’s sake how can they ask me to divorce her.”

Sania said they were not going for any out-of-court settlement. Maintaining that calling names was not good, she said the chief Qazi of Hyderabad has already held that there can be no telephone ‘nikah’.

Shoaib said he spoke to Pakistan High Commissioner who said he had the government’s backing. Earlier in the day, Dr Shams Babar, a relative of the Siddiquis, addressed a press conference outside their residence in Banjara Hills, claiming that Ayesha had a miscarriage and that information on it was part of “several proofs” that were handed over to the police to “nail” Shoaib.

Meanwhile, the police did not disclose much about their investigations into the case registered on the basis of the complaint filed by Ayesha’s father MA Siddiqui. Officials said Shoaib told them during questioning that he was tricked into the marriage.

Anthem case hearing put off

Tennis star Sania Mirza, whose proposed marriage with Pakistani cricket player Shoaib Malik has been hitting the headlines for all the wrong reasons, is also facing a problem of a different kind, reports DHNS from Lucknow.

A court in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar district is hearing a complaint against the tennis star for showing disrespect to the National Anthem. The hearing of the case was deferred by the district court to April 28.