Influencer and make-up artist Shraddha Dubey, accused of killing her boyfriend in Lucknow, has released her first video statement since the case emerged.
She says his death was a suicide and not a murder.
In the video, which runs a little over a minute, Dubey said she had done nothing wrong and that "it was not a murder". She said she was ready to cooperate with the police and give a statement, and that she wanted to tell them the complete truth.
She also asked that her name not be linked to senior officials or politicians, saying she has no involvement with them.
Dubey said she was not in good health or physically fit at the moment, and that she had not disappeared. She urged people to think carefully before saying anything about a woman.
The man who died, Shiva Sharma, was 28 and owned a chain of restaurants. He died after allegedly falling from the fourth floor of Dubey's flat in Lucknow. Dubey and her sister have been on the run since the incident.
Lucknow Police have announced a reward of Rs 25,000 each for information on the two.
The case is based on a complaint filed by Sharma's mother, Ranjana Sharma. Dubey, her sister Rashmi, a driver identified as Danish, an associate named Adil and other unidentified people have been named as accused.
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The mother alleges that Dubey threatened to circulate obscene videos of her son and defame him. She also claims he was subjected to physical violence during the relationship.
According to the complaint, Dubey blackmailed and assaulted him for about four months.
Describing the sequence of events, Ranjana Sharma said Dubey phoned her at around 9 p.m. and told her that Shiva had fallen from the balcony and was being taken to hospital.
When she called back, Dubey said the driver had taken him there and gave her the driver's number, the complaint states.
Police are probing the circumstances that led to his death. Both the allegations in the complaint and Dubey's claim in the video are yet to be established.
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