Monica Bedi

Acting · Hoshiarpur, Punjab, India · Born January 18, 1975

Monica Bedi, a Capricorn born on January 18, 1975, in the village of Chabbewal in the Hoshiarpur district of Punjab, India, is the daughter of Shakuntala and Prem Kumar Bedi, a registered medical practitioner. When Monica was just ten months old in 1976, her family—which also includes her brother Bobby—immigrated to Norway to start a garment business. In 1992, while studying English Literature at Oxford University, she met Bollywood actor-producer Manoj Kumar, which prompted her to relocate to Bombay. There, she met another producer, Mukesh Duggal, at whose hands she reportedly suffered considerable abuse before he was subsequently killed. Monica eventually secured acting roles, beginning in Telugu cinema, through the contacts of Abu Salem. Tragedy struck during a 1995 visit to her hometown when bandits attacked her family, killing her grandparents and severely injuring her mother, leading her family to splinter between Delhi and Norway. Monica later married Abu Salem, converted to Islam, changed her name to Fauzia, and acquired forged passports from Bhopal and Hyderabad to relocate with him from Dubai to Lisbon, Portugal, in 2001. Her family in India remained completely unaware of her plight until she and Salem were arrested by Portuguese police a year later. In November 2003, Monica was sentenced to two years in prison for possessing forged travel documents and was subsequently extradited to India. Despite desperate appeals to the Indian President and Prime Minister, a Special CBI Court convicted her in September 2006, sentencing her to five years of rigorous imprisonment for cheating, criminal planning, and using fake passports, with additional forgery charges from Bhopal still pending. Although no longer a star, Monica continues to attract media attention across India, with many fans and well-wishers hoping she will overcome her challenges and one day return to the silver screen.