Mumbai, Dec 11 (IANS): Television actress Devoleena Bhattacharjee has alleged that her close friend, late actress Divya Bhatnagar, was a victim of domestic violence by her husband Gagan Shetty.

Devoleena has shared a video on her verified Instagram account late on Thursday where she alleged Gagan Shetty of subjecting Divya to tremendous physical assault and mental harassment while she was alive. Devoleena alleged that Shetty had smashed Divya's head just three days after their wedding, regularly hit her with a belt and lock her in a room.

Calling Shetty a criminal, Devoleena further alleged that he had threatened to kill the late actress' brother if she opened her mouth.

Addressing Divya's husband, Devoleena says in Hindi in the video: "Gagan Shetty aka Gabru Shetty and don't know how many more names you have because criminals have multiple names...Maybe you had scared Divya so much so that she doesn't reveal anything to her family members or friends, but she has shared incidents of assult that you committed on her, to some of her friends and fans, with whom she used to chat. She had even written about it. So we have a proof of everything that was done to her. All these chats have been retrieved from her phone."

"Divya understood your real nature but it was too late, and despite understanding she kept tolerating everything with the hope that you will mend your ways someday. You have just used her to foray into this industry. You have assaulted her mentally as well as physically. It is beyond imagination what you did to her," the actress added.

Addressing netizens, Devoleena informed: "He smashed her forehead just three days after their wedding. Hitting her with belt was a regular affair, leaving her bruised in the hands and legs. He is a criminal who would beat her regularly, lock her in a room and threaten her saying if she tells anything to her family then he will kill her brother. So basically he is a criminal."

Addressing Divya's husband and calling him a "rakshas" (monster), Devoleena further said: "Divya wanted you to become normal, she was giving you time, she didn't tell us a word because she knew we would land you in jail. But you are a monster and did not mend your ways. She is not there with us anymore, maybe that's because of Covid but the domestic violence which you did with her is... you have been punished for 10 years but we are trying our best to endure you get a life term for what you did."

Devoleena in her video also revealed that Divya had earlier informed the police about her husband. The actress captioned her video using the hashtag #justicefordivyabhatnagar.

In a separate post, Devoleena shared a photograph of Divya's bruised knee. And some screenshots of allegations made by the late actress' co-actors and neighbours against her husband. 

She also shared screenshots of chats where Divya had spoken about her husband's behaviour. Devoleena wrote: "Ok so sharing few of the incidents and also the chats between divya and her friend and also her neighbour who is the witness of all....The assault she had gone through no can even imagin....Lets fight against domestic violence and punish the culprit... #divyabhatnagarofficial."

"Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai" fame television actress Divya Bhatnagar passed away on December 7, after battling Covid-19 for a few weeks.