Rhea's lawyer Satish Maneshinde detailed the whole incident in the fresh statement.

 

"In the initial months of their relationship, when Rhea had visited Sushant's house, his sister Priyanka and her husband Siddharth were living with him. One night, in and around April 2019, Rhea and Priyanka had gone out to a party. Priyanka consumed copious amounts of alcohol and was behaving inappropriately with men as well as women at that party. So, Rhea insisted that they return to Sushant's home. Upon returning, Sushant and his sister continued drinking alcohol while Rhea retired for the night as she had a shoot the next morning. Rhea was asleep in Sushant's room when she suddenly awoke to find Priyanka had got into bed with her and was groping her. Rhea was extremely shocked and demanded that she leave the room immediately. Subsequently, Rhea herself left the house. Thereafter, Rhea informed Sushant as to what had transpired, and Sushant got into an argument with his sister regarding the same. That due to the aforesaid incident, the relationship between Sushant's family and Rhea had been strained since inception. Even after his death when a list of 20 people was made to attend the funeral, Rhea's name was not included in the list and hence excluded from attending the funeral," said Manshinde.

 

About how Rhea and Sushant came to know each other and the actress's subsequent departing from the late actor's home, the lawyer added: "Rhea and Sushant were known to each other over the past several years as they were both working in the Indian film industry. Rhea and Sushant had maintained a cordial friendship and would occasionally communicate with each other. In April 2019, Rhea and Sushant had attended a party hosted by the film fraternity and shortly thereafter they began dating each other. Even though they spent a lot of time at each other's homes, they officially moved in together in December 2019 and live at Mount Blanc, Bandra, till Rhea left on the 8th of June 2020."

 

Talking about the allegations against Rhea, he said: "It is total nonsense and an afterthought to make allegations after a period of 40 days, the manner in which it has been made before Bihar Police. No allegations whatsoever were made till 27th July 2020 by anybody in the family before Mumbai Police or to any authority. Their statements were recorded by police in Mumbai. They are educated and have an IPS officer OP Singh in the family. The allegations are totally concocted and fabricated for ulterior purposes."

 

Manshinde continued: "Rhea denies all allegations of abetment of suicide , misappropriation of funds and others or otherwise. The Mumbai Police and the Enforcement Directorate have been handed over all of Rhea's financial documents, which clearly show the falsity of such allegations. She has not received a single transfer from Sushant's accounts. All her Income Tax Returns have been examined by police as well as Enforcement Directorate (ED). Neither of them have found anything incriminating against," he added.

 

Sushant was found dead in his home in Mumbai on June 14. Before his death, Maneshinde claims that the actor kept on trying to reach his family.

 

"Sushant had been calling his family, informing them of his decision to move out of Mumbai and requesting them to come and meet him. After several days of Sushant calling and crying over the phone, his sister Mitu agreed to come live with him on 8th of June 2020. Due to this development, Sushant requested Rhea to live with her parents for the time being. Rhea had been suffering from her own anxiety issues and often endured panic attacks. Sushant's conduct also aggravated these conditions. Even though Rhea was desirous of seeing her family, she was not at all comfortable with leaving Sushant. The very same day,8th June 2020, Rhea had arranged to have a therapy session of her own with Dr. Susan Walker and requested Sushant if she could leave after the session. However, Sushant told her to leave immediately before his sister Mitu arrived. Thus Rhea reluctantly left and informed Sushant to let her or her brother know about anything he required or in case he needed to talk," Manshinde claimed.

 

It was shared that Mumbai Police and ED have investigated Rhea's relationship with Sushant and her financial status at great length, and "till today nothing incriminating has been found against her".

 

Manshinde also said that "Rhea does not know and has never met Aaditya Thackeray till today. Neither has she ever spoken to him telephonically or otherwise, though she has heard of him as a leader of the Shiv Sena".

 

About Rhea's alleged interaction with actor Dino Morea, the lawyer clarified that the actress knows and has met Dino socially as he is her senior in the film industry.

 

Continuing on the media overdrive about the case, Manshinde said: "The media is requested not to speculate its own theories and make unsubstantiated claims. She has remained silent to such allegations. Her silence should not be mistaken for a weakness. Truth will remain the same," said her lawyer.

 

Rhea, as put by her lawyer, would like the truth of the matter to be revealed by "virtue of a fair and impartial investigation".

 

"She has admitted in her petition to the SC that she sent a message to Amit Shah to order a CBI investigation. She has also informed the Supreme Court that if the court transfers the case to CBI she had no objection. What she has challenged is the illegal registration and investigation of Bihar Police without jurisdiction, and transfer to CBI of an illegal investigation. Unless the Maharashtra Government consents to a CBI investigation, the case cannot be transferred to CBI. Instead, the Bihar Government ought to have transferred the investigation to Mumbai Police as per the notification issued by the Union Government," the lawyer said.

 

He also stated that Rhea will not submit to an "illegal investigation".

 

"My client has not shied away from cooperating with any investigating agency till date, but she is entitled to a fair and impartial investigation by an agency which has jurisdiction to investigate the case. The manner in which the proceedings were instituted and being conducted in Bihar made it appear unlikely that she would receive a fair treatment," said Maneshinde.