KARACHI: Pakistani showbiz celebrities have decided to take legal action against actor Feroze Khan, who was accused by his former wife of domestic violence last year, for divulging their contact details on a social media platform.
Khan said on Twitter earlier this week that his legal team was sending a defamation notice to several Pakistani artists, including Farhan Saeed, Asim Azhar, Yasir Hussain, Sarwat Gilani, Mira Sethi, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, Osman Khalid Butt, Aiman Khan, Minal Khan and Musaddiq Malik, for making “false and baseless allegations” while supporting his ex-wife.
He deleted an earlier post on Instagram in which he shared the list of these celebrities along with their cellphone numbers and addresses.
Khan’s former wife Aliza Sultan filed for divorce last September while describing her marriage of four years with the actor as “chaos” with “physical and psychological violence.” She also presented pictures and other evidence suggesting domestic violence, making several Pakistani celebrities stand in solidarity with her by using #isupportaliza across social media platforms.
“I did not write Feroze’s name or mention anything about the case,” Yasir Hussain told Arab News on Wednesday. “Yet, he has mentioned my name in the notice. He has invaded our personal space by putting out our phone numbers which a separate criminal case.”
He added such notices were served through courts while expressing determination to take legal action.
Hussain agreed with Sarwat Gilani who, in response to Khan’s act, said: “Two days ago, Feroze Khan had [to deal with] one ex-wife and her lawyer. Now, he will have to face 10 celebrities and their lawyers are after him.”
“It is bizarre and despicable that private information, including phone numbers of various famous individuals, has been publicly shared on the absurd pretext of issuing legal notice to them,” she continued. “Not only are such actions clearly illegal but also demonstrate a total lack of maturity to handle matters in a civilized way.”
Mira Sethi also joined forces with Gilani.
“Echoing what Sarwat says here about leaked numbers,” she said. “Unbelievable. My Lawyer will respond to the notice and I will continue standing with Alizah Sultan.”
Actor Minal Khan, whose personal information was also divulged, called it a “shameful act” that had led to severe “mental distress.”
“My personal security has been breached and put at risk as I have been mentally harassed, tortured and threatened by multiple numbers,” she wrote on Instagram. “Me and my family’s life has been put in danger. Such actions are illegal.”
“This being said, I will be taking very strict legal action against Feroze Khan for leaking my private information on social media along with multiple other famous individuals,” she added.
Arab News reached out to Khan and his manager but did not get a response.
