‘Prison inmates, my family and Mumbai police helped me go through difficult time’: Chrisann Pereira after landing in Mumbai

Recounting her time at the prison, the actor said that there were around 30 people in her cell. “While there was a language barrier, I spoke to the Bangladeshis in Hindi and communicated with the Nigerians in English. Every night I would pray along with the Nigerians,” Pereira said. She added that since hot water was available only in the bathroom, she used water from there to make coffee.

“The prison, however, was centrally air conditioned and well kept. There was a psychiatrist in the prison who looked after my medication and allowed me to continue the medicines I was taking,” Pereira said. She added, “There were days when I lost all hope. But thanks to my family here and the Mumbai Police, I managed to pass the tough times.”

Pereira, who was lodged in Sharjah and eventually acquitted by a court there, reached Mumbai nearly four months after she had left the country. She has been in Sharjah since April 1. After being jailed for over three weeks, the actor was granted bail and later acquitted but she could not return to Mumbai due to legal procedures. The delay prompted her family to express their concerns about her mental health.

“Chrisann is finally back & reunited with us,” her brother Kevin said in an Instagram post Thursday.

Pereira has worked in Hindi movies like Sadak 2 and Batla House where she played supporting roles.

In June, the Mumbai police filed a chargesheet in the case, providing evidence of how she was allegedly framed by one Anthony Paul and two others. Paul was upset over a fight with Chrisann’s mother and decided to take revenge, the police said.

He allegedly put some narcotic substance in a trophy and gave it to Chrisann while she was flying to Sharjah and tipped off the authorities. Chrisann was in the Sharjah prison for over three weeks before she was granted bail on April 26.

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Paul is alleged to have also framed Mumbai-based DJ Clayton Rodrigues, who is still lodged in the Sharjah prison. According to the police, Paul had tried to take revenge on five people by sending them to Sharjah with articles that had drugs concealed in them. While three others escaped, Chrisann and Rodrigues were caught with the drugs.

Paul, his friend and accomplice Rajesh Borate and a man who provided them the drugs, were named as accused in the case. Paul and Borate were arrested in April by the Mumbai police Crime Branch.

In Pereira’s case, Borate, allegedly at Paul’s behest, pretended to be a casting agent and sent the actor to Sharjah for an exhibition. He allegedly handed her a trophy to be given to someone in Sharjah and placed drugs in it, leading to her arrest.

In the case of Rodrigues, Paul was allegedly upset with him over a comment he made when both their families had gone on a trip to a farmhouse last year. In January this year, Borate, allegedly at Paul’s behest, posed as an event manager, called Rodrigues and offered him a job at an event in Sharjah. As he was about to fly to Sharjah on February 6, Borate allegedly gave him a cake that had drugs hidden in it.

As per the probe by the Mumbai police Crime Branch, Paul then called up the Sharjah airport authorities and tipped them off about Rodrigues. When the police checked the cake box, they found drugs in it along with a note saying he had more drugs if anyone needed it. Rodrigues was arrested and has been lodged at the Sharjah prison since then. He was convicted by a Sharjah court for 25 years and the family has appealed against his conviction.