Leave grieving family alone: Vijay Varma to paps hounding Malaika after stepfather's death

Mumbai: Actor Vijay Varma on Friday urged paparazzi to give space to actor-model Malaika Arora's grieving family in the wake of the alleged suicide of her stepfather Anil Mehta.

Mehta (62) allegedly jumped off the sixth floor of the building 'Ayesha Manor' in upscale Bandra (West) on Wednesday morning, as per the police.

Soon after the incident, there was a battery of photographers who lined up outside the building to click photographs of the Arora and her sister as well as the many celebrities who visited them.

In a post on social media platform X, Varma asked media to leave Arora's family alone in this difficult time.

"Pls leave the grieving family alone.. it’s not easy anyway for them. Thoda toh grace rakho media walon (Have some grace at least)," the actor wrote.

According to a police official, Mehta's wife and Malaika's mother Joyce was in the flat when the incident took place.

Joyce in her statement told police that she saw Anil's slippers in the room and started looking for him before she heard the building's watchman shouting for help, and looked down from the balcony, he said.

Mehta was found lying in a pool of blood on the building's premises.

As per the initial autopsy report, Anil Mehta died due to multiple injuries to the head and other organs, he said.