Mohammed Shami has been charged with attempt to murder after Hasin Jahan, his wife, filed a written complaint against the India pacer and four of his family members in Kolkata on Thursday (March 8).
According to reports, Jahan claimed that after returning from India’s tour to South Africa, Shami had physically assaulted her, forcing her to go public about the domestic violence situation. Married to Shami since 2014, Jahan reportedly claimed that the physical and mental torture had been going on since years.
“Police have charged Indian pacer Mohammad Shami and his brother with sections related to rape, domestic violence and causing hurt with poisoning after Jahan’s complaint,” Praveen Tripathi, the Kolkata police joint commissioner, told AFP.
“She has specifically complained about being tortured by her husband and in-laws, and about her husband having multiple extra-marital affairs,” Tripathi added.
According to reports, Shami has been charged under section 498 A of the Indian Penal Code (IPL) which amounts to cruelty to a woman by her husband or his relatives. The other charges recorded against him are under Section 307 – attempt to murder, Section 323 – punishment for voluntarily causing hurt, Section 376 – rape, Section 506 – criminal intimidation, Section 328 and Section 34.
Shami, who was in Dharamsala representing India A in the 2017-18 Deodhar Trophy when Jahan leaked screenshots of his alleged chats with women he had extra-marital affairs with, denied the claims via Twitter on Wednesday.
“I managed to access the security code in his phone and saw (the) chats. I was shocked and could not sleep,” Jahan told journalists on Friday. “He tortured me physically and mentally over and over again. Shami assaulted me after returning from the South Africa tour.”
Shami on Wednesday also found himself out of the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) 26-member annual contracts system, which saw the addition of a new category. A source from the cricketing body later revealed to Wisden India that while Shami was supposed to be named in the same category (B) as his earlier contract, his name was withheld until there was a resolution of a complaints filed.