Ugly aftermath

The war of words between Pakistani starlet Veena Malik and alleged former live-in partner Prashant Pratap Singh shows no sign of dying down. Days after the surprise announcement of Veena's December 25 wedding to Dubai-based entrepreneur Asad Bashir Khan Khattak, Prashant (who was the actress' digital manager while she tried to establish a career in India) spoke to a TV channel about his "relationship" with her. The actress responded by calling Prashant "a gay employee" who she looked on as a sibling. Prashant then posted private photos of Veena and himself on various social networking sites to support his statement. He has also filed an FIR against Veena at the Aarey Police Station, alleging that he was the victim of fraud and cheating.
In a conversation with this correspondent, Prashant said that Veena and he began seeing each other after they met at a party in 2012. "This was when she'd just broken up with Ashmit (Patel) and was suffering from depression. She was lonely and needed someone to look after her. Not only did Veena move in with me, I also took charge of her career. From ferrying her to and from the sets to taking care of what she ate and even monitoring her sleep and medication, it was almost as though I were looking after a child," he claimed.
While Veena has said that Prashant was employed by her for a sum of '10,000 every month and that she had made him an advance payment amounting to nearly '3 lakhs, Prashant has said that he (and his digital agency Huge H) footed all her bills during their association. He also says that he helped Veena obtain a PAN card and visas to various countries. "Normally, a Pakistani citizen isn't given a PAN card. Neither can they rent a flat. I've handed over records to the police that show she lived with me. I've lost close to '1 crore, in accommodating her bills and lifestyle. My business has suffered."
In the time since the controversy erupted, Prashant has claimed to several publications that Veena was carrying his child in May 2012. He reiterated to this correspondent that he had offered to marry Veena at the time, but the pregnancy was later terminated. He also claimed that he was completely unaware of the topless photos that Veena posed for, for FHM magazine. Her marriage to Asad, Prashant argued, might have been to regain entry in Pakistan, where there was a huge backlash against the actress after her nude photo shoot.
Prashant claims that news of Veena's marriage came a few weeks after they argued over "her cheating", a problem they'd encountered previously in their relationship.
"I saw her chatting with a bigwig from a pharma company, I don't wish to name. The chat was very explicit in nature and I asked her to leave my home immediately. It wasn't the most appropriate reaction at that hour of the day. But she left me with no choice. I couldn't have tolerated her lies anymore," he said.
Still, he says he was shocked at the speed with which she announced her nuptials. "We were together for two years and she didn't waste any time before moving on. That hurt me and I did speak to a channel about it. I'd have left it at that. But Veena saw my interview on the channel and called my mother. Her threats to my mother made me fight back."
Prashant says he is suing Veena for defaming him. "I have all the documents needed to prove her wrong," he says. Clearly, round two in the Veena-Prashant spat is still to come.