Flora Saini recalls facing domestic violence, says ex-boyfriend almost killed her: ‘Once he’d beaten me so much that…’

In a new interview, Flora Saini of Stree fame recalled the domestic violence and sexual harassment she suffered in 2007 at the hands of her ex-boyfriend. Flora had first spoken publicly about being abused by her ex in 2018 during the MeToo movement. Now, she has opened up about how he almost killed her, and threatened to kill her parents, too, if she left him. Also read: Stree’s Flora Saini accuses producer Gaurang Doshi of abuse

In the interview, Flora said she left her home to live with film producer and her former boyfriend Gaurang Doshi as he asked her to prove her love for him. She said he was ‘so sweet’ in the beginning that even her parents were ‘fooled’. The actor further spoke about the recent murder of Shraddha Walkar, who was allegedly killed by her boyfriend and live-in partner Aftab Poonawala in Delhi. She recalled that her ex had taken away her phone so that she could not call anyone.

“Your parents see the red flags. In Shraddha’s case as well, the same happened. They first cut you out from your family. I also left my home, and within a week of moving in with him, I was being bashed up. I couldn’t understand why he was beating me up suddenly, because in my eyes he was a really nice guy,” Flora told News18.

The actor further said that she left her own home to live with her ex ‘out of stubbornness’, even though her parents had warned her. Flora said that even when he used to bash her up, she thought it was her fault. She added that he had even threatened to kill her and her parents after she told him she wanted to leave him.

“One night, he’d beaten me so much that I had a fractured jaw. He took his father’s picture and warned me saying I swear on my father that I will kill you tonight. When he turned back to keep the photo frame back, in that fraction of a second, my mom’s voice echoed in my ears that at such a moment you will have to run – bas bhaag, mat soch ki kapde pehne hai ya nahi, paise hain ya nahi, bas bhaag (run and don’t think if you have clothes on or not, If you have the money or not, run for your life). I ran to my home and I decided that I’m never going back,” Flora said in the same interview.

The actor said she along with her family went to the police station to file a complaint against her ex the next day. Flora said police had refused to file her complaint, and were talking to her ex on the phone and telling him that she had come to file a complaint. The actor said she was ultimately able to file a handwritten complaint.

A popular face in south Indian cinema, Flora has appeared in Hindi films like Love In Nepal, Dabangg 2, Lakshmi and Dhanak. Among her other roles, Flora is known for playing a ghost in Stree. Recently, a sequel to the 2018 film was announced. In a recent interview, Rajkummar Rao had confirmed Stree 2, revealing he will begin shooting for the film soon.