Daler Mehndi’s wife, Taran, recently opened up about the difficult period when the Punjab singer was jailed. Mehndi was sentenced to two years in prison in March 2018 in connection to a human trafficking case but was released on bail shortly after. In July 2022, a court dismissed his appeal, upholding the two-year sentence. Later, the Punjab and Haryana High Court suspended the sentence and granted him bail in September 2022.
A traumatic visit
In a candid interview on her own YouTube channel, Taran described visiting Daler in jail with their children as “traumatic.” She recalled how her elder daughter became the pillar of strength for the family during the ordeal.“This episode changed a lot of things for us. It shouldn’t have happened. It’s a trauma for all of us. Everybody told me not to take our youngest daughter to Patiala, to meet him in jail. I told them, ‘You don’t even know her equation with her dad’. She had to meet him. Our oldest daughter said that everyone would have to be strong, even though we were all down and out,” she said.
The youngest daughter’s strength
Taran went on to describe how their youngest daughter’s composure during the visit left a lasting impression on the family, even moving Daler to tears. “After we met him, one by one, all of us broke down. But our youngest daughter didn’t shed a single tear. Instead, she asked, ‘Is the bed sheet clean? Is the toilet clean?’ And that’s when Daler ji broke down. Look at the consciousness of this child. She loves her non-veg food, but because she knew that her father wasn’t getting proper meals, she refused to eat at home,” she added.
Lack of support from the industry
Reflecting on the absence of support from the film and music industry during those trying times, Taran explained her feelings about being left to handle the situation largely on her own.“This is an industry. It is not a brotherhood. I don’t think the industry even paid attention to what was happening. This is how the industry operates. There are a few friends, like Suniel Shetty and Ahmed Khan. And there is no one in the industry who holds a grudge against him,” she explained.
