A Suitable Boy actress Sadaf Jafar beaten and jailed for peaceful protest in Lucknow, says Mira Nair

SHO of Hazratganj police station DP Kushwaha told Hindustan Times, “Sadaf was arrested along with other violent protesters near Parivartan Chowk by our police team. She has been sent to jail. We have sufficient video evidence of her involvement in the protest on December 19. She can appeal against her arrest in court.”

Sadaf Jafar’s sister Nahid Verma, though, denied the police’s claims. “She (Sadaf) was unarmed and never raised any slogan against the government. She was all for upholding the Constitution that governs the law of the land,” Verma told HT.

A couple of film personalities have reacted to the actor’s arrest, including filmmaker Hansal Mehta and Gully Boy actor Vijay Varma.

Hansal Mehta tweeted, “This is shocking. And telling. How the people have shaken up an establishment that finds no other alternative than to brutalise in the face of protest. #ReleaseSadafJafar.”

Vijay Varma wrote on Twitter, “I was shooting with her a fortnight ago. And now she’s in jail! This is insane. This is the lowest low.”

Besides having been a part of A Suitable Boy and theatre, she is also an UP Congress media spokesperson, teacher and social activist.