Saritha’s disclosures from nearly a decade ago, around the time Mukesh remarried dancer Methil Devika, are now gaining renewed scrutiny. She had previously revealed her distressing experiences with Mukesh, including both emotional and physical abuse.
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Saritha, who had kept silent about her experiences for years, shared her story with the media during a period of intense personal and public scrutiny. “I was too ashamed to share what I had gone through… I couldn’t comprehend that it was happening to me. I’ve acted in movies… I’ve seen situations like this in films… But I never imagined it would become a reality in my own life,” she revealed to Manorama Online.
Saritha’s revelations included accounts of Mukesh’s multiple affairs and the domestic violence she endured during their marriage. “I was reluctant to speak up. When some media people discovered what I was going through and reached out, I denied everything. To show others that everything was fine, we took photos pretending to be happy during Onam and similar occasions. Despite all these family issues, he continued his affairs with many. I just held onto the hope that he would realize his mistake and come back,” she said.
One of the most harrowing accounts Saritha shared was of an incident when she was pregnant. “When I was pregnant, he kicked me in the stomach, and I fell into the yard. I cried… In those moments, he would mock me, saying, ‘Oh, you’re such a good actress… go on, cry.’ He always found new ways to hurt me. Once, when I was nine months pregnant, we went out for dinner. On our way back, when I tried to get into the car, he kept moving it forward and backward to trick me. When I ran after the car, I fell and sat there crying. I tried to hide my tears from him because he would just laugh,” she recounted.
Saritha also detailed another violent episode. “Another time, when he came home drunk at midnight, I asked him casually why he was so late. He grabbed me by the hair, dragged me across the floor, and beat me,” she added.
Saritha had previously chosen to remain silent, partly due to a promise she made to Mukesh’s father. “After my father’s death, I started to see Mukesh’s father as my own. I had given him my word, which is why I never went to the police. I kept that promise until the day he died. When Mukesh attacked me in front of his maids, I decided to stop going to his house. There was a time when his father came to Thiruvananthapuram for tax matters, and he came to pick me up. At the airport, he said, ‘Let’s go home.’ I told him I wasn’t coming and that I had taken a room at Pankaj Hotel. He didn’t say anything in front of the driver but later came to my room. He held my hands and told me that he knew what I was going through and that his son was in the wrong. But he asked me to make sure this didn’t reach the media. I kept that promise until today. I’m breaking it now because my silence was misinterpreted. No one knew what really happened,” Saritha said.
Meanwhile, in a 2023 interview with Manorama News, Mukesh addressed the allegations but avoided directly commenting on Saritha’s revelations. “Up until now, I have avoided speaking negatively about them. It’s typical for couples who end up in family court to blame each other, as this happens in almost every case. It’s a natural response. I have never once made any derogatory comments about them,” he claimed.