Acquitted, Ilyasi plans to relaunch 'India's Most Wanted' with daughter
Even after fighting for 18 years to clear his name in his wife's murder, Suhaib Ilyasi hasn't lost his enthusiasm to catch criminals - something he did before he was put behind the bars - through his famous show, 'India's Most Wanted'. He is all set to relaunch his show and this time he won't be alone. Ilyasi's daughter, Aaliya, will be his co-host.
'The thought of reuniting with my daughter kept me going'
Ilyasi said, "Only the thought that I would one day be reunited with my daughter kept me going," when asked by Times Now about those 18 years. He added, "It's yet to sink in that I'm a free man now, that Tihar is no longer home, that I'm in my real home with my daughter Aaliya. I feel this is a dream."
'I want to go deep into the motivations of crime'
The once chocolate-boy-looking TV host, now a bearded man, wants to do a show on Tihar inmates. "Some of them have killed multiple times. But their eyes tell a different story. I want to go deep into the motivations of crime," Ilyasi said. He added he wants to show the grey areas of crime, unlike the black and white binary that law divides the crime into.
The thought of his new show never left his mind
Ilyasi said the thought of doing a show never left his mind but he couldn't do it because of the allegations against him. "I was facing a case... could not point fingers at the criminals with the same conviction and confidence," he said. However, he's still in awe of his show. "135 criminals were caught due to India's Most Wanted," he quipped.
Backstory: The love-hate story of Suhaib and Anju
Suhaib met his wife Anju at Jamia Millia Islamia's Mass Communication Research Center, Delhi and fell in love. They got married in London in 1993 and later moved to India. Differences cropped up when Anju returned to London but they patched up in 1996. Then they moved back to India; Aaliya was born in 1997. However, troubles started again and Anju moved to Canada.
Suhaib, Anju discussed 'India's Most Wanted' in London
The couple had discussed the idea of 'India's Most Wanted' in London. When the show became famous, they buried their differences and later moved to their East Delhi apartment in December 1999. It was the same apartment where Anju was found dead a month later.
What happened 18 years ago?
Suhaib's wife, Anju Ilyasi, was found wounded in their East Delhi residence on January 11, 2000. She was taken to a hospital, where she was declared brought dead. Initially, the death came as a case of suicide as post-mortem reports didn't suggest any foul play. However, Suhaib was arrested when Anju's sister Rashmi and her mother Rukma alleged that he tortured Anju for dowry.
The trial court held Suhaib guilty of murdering Anju
Anju's mother and sister moved the Delhi HC, which, in 2014, directed the lower court to try Ilyasi for her murder and not just dowry. The lower court held him guilty for his wife's murder in December'17. However, the decision was overturned by the HC on October 5, acquitting him of all the charges. Their daughter Aaliya said she was happy with the decision.
