Actor–dancer Shalu Menon who was arrested for her alleged role in the solar scam case had spent around 49 days in prison. Recounting her experience, Shalu said she never received any special treatment and had to sleep on the floor, like the rest of the prisoners. She also revealed that her mother, grandmother, her students and their parents were the only ones who stood with her during the difficult times.
“I don’t know how I survived during the first few days of my arrest. I was removed from many serials because I was imprisoned. I earned a bad reputation though I didn’t do anything wrong. But I decided not to cry over it. No one can harm or defeat an artist if she is honest. I am innocent! I have a good career. Moreover, I am a dance teacher and can teach children. I felt an intense desire to live,” she said.
She also spoke about the experience meeting people from different backgrounds during her 49-day jail term. I began to understand their problems. Though I didn’t receive any special treatment because I was an actor, I was not crammed into a cell. In fact, I only had to share my prison cell with an old woman, who has been languishing in jail for four years. Despite getting bail, no one came to take her home. She was still in jail when I left,” said Shalu.
My life in prison taught me not to trust anyone blindly. “God will be with us if we are innocent. You should stay strong and move on. No one thought I would be arrested. Media persons came to my house after hearing a small rumour. I had even offered tea to the reporters who came to cover the news. My relatives stayed away fearing that they too would be arrested. Today, those same people are trying to find their way back into my life seeing that I have returned to normal life. That is not an issue for me. I think I have faced enough experiences to convert them all into a book,” she added.
She said she was shocked to see the morphed video involving her doing rounds on social media. “The morphed video had come out in 2009. No one believed that it was a morphed video then. But, today people will be able to recognise a morphed video,” she said.
