Monica

Hyderabad, Nov. 24: Girlfriend yes, but never a wife.

For the second time in less than a week, Monica Bedi has denied she had ever been married to extradited don Abu Salem.

Monica poured her heart out to uncle Purushottam Lal Bedi when he met her in Chanchalguda jail this afternoon.

“I never married Abu Salem either in India or abroad though I remained his girlfriend for over five years. It is a deliberate falsehood to make such a claim with an intention to involve me in something (about which) I have no idea at all,” she said.

On November 19, Monica told a designated CBI court here that she is “single”, an “unmarried daughter of Prem Kumar Bedi who has migrated to Norway”.

Purushottam spent over three hours at the court with advocate Ruchir Batra for permission to meet his niece.

The court allowed him to meet her and also approved Batra’s appointment as another advocate in the team defending Monica.

“She wept like a baby for a few minutes,” Purushottam told reporters later. His niece, the 55-year-old added, told him her “only sin” was to “fall in love with Abu under the influence of his wealth and charm”.

Monica also told her uncle she had not forged any passport application either in Hyderabad or Bhopal. “I have not signed for any passport,” she said.

Accused of forging passports by both Andhra and Madhya Pradesh police, Monica has to provide her specimen signature at the Hyderabad court tomorrow on the CBI’s request.