Mumbai: Anil Mehta (65), the step father of Bollywood actresses Malaika Arora and Amrita Arora, allegedly died by suicide on Wednesday morning. According to Mumbai Police, he jumped off the terrace of his building around 10:30 a.m.
Anil, who had worked in the Indian Merchant Navy, is survived by his daughters Malaika and Amrita, and their mother, Joyce Polycarp. He resided with his family on the sixth floor of Ayesha Manor on 6th Road in Bandra West. The incident came to light when the building’s guards heard a loud thud and discovered Anil on the ground. They immediately alerted his family and the authorities.
The police and forensic teams arrived at the scene and sent Anil’s body to the hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival. Following this, the forensic team examined the accident site and his residence for any signs of a suicide note or material that could explain his actions. However, no note was found, police officials confirmed.
Sources close to Anil Mehta, who had gathered outside Ayesha Manor on Wednesday afternoon, mentioned that Anil and Joyce, who divorced when Malaika was just 11 years old, but had recently started living together again. One individual, believed to be close to Anil, speculated that it may have been an accident, as Anil had a routine of reading the newspaper on the balcony every morning. According to unconfirmed reports, Mehta spoke to his daughters on Wednesday morning and told them he was tired of life.
The building watchman, who first spotted Anil’s body, said that while he was calling for help, Joyce was shouting from the sixth floor. According to police, Joyce noticed Anil’s slippers near the terrace’s edge and, upon looking down, saw his body, leading her to cry out for assistance.
Raj Tilak Roushan, DCP of Zone 9, said, “Prima facie, it appears to be a suicide, but we are investigating from all angles.”
The police later recovered CCTV footage from the building premises to aid in the investigation. “We will match the CCTV footage, postmortem report, and forensic findings to establish the sequence of events, whether accidental or otherwise,” a police official added.
