New Delhi: Shah Rukh Khan’s Raees train promotion which left a man dead, kicked up a row against the actor but the deceased’s mother has now come out in a support of the superstar, saying “he is not at fault”.
Farid Khan Pathan died of cardiac rest as crowd went berserk after Shah Rukh arrived at the Vadodara railway station on Monday night by August Kranti Rajdhani Express.
He was the relative of a journalist, who was travelling in the same train with Shah Rukh.
Hours after the incident occurred, some sections blamed Shah Rukh for the tragedy. But the deceased’s mother backed the actor saying “his promotional gimmick has nothing to do with her son’s unfortunate demise”.
“We have nothing against Shah Rukh Khan as he is not at fault. He is also like my son, I would like to thank him for making last moment arrangements for our family to be a part of my son’s funeral.
“The incident has nothing to do with SRK’s ‘Raees’ promotional event, my son fell prey to the crowd and succumbed to death due to suffocation. All we want is prayers from everyone for my son,” she said in a statement.
Farid’s niece, journalist Samina Shaikh, also said that the actor’s team ensured that she and her family reached her uncle’s funeral safely.
“It’s unfortunate that my uncle lost his life due to suffocation in the crowd as he was a heart patient. However, Shah Rukh Khan and his team made sure that my mother and I reach safely to my uncle’s funeral.
“We got down at Ratlam and SRK’s team arranged a car for us to Vadodara to attend my uncle’s burial,” Shaikh said.
The journalist also spoke about how Shah Rukh broke down while consoling her. “When I narrated the incident to Shah Rukh, he was in tears as he could genuinely feel the pain that I and my family were going through.
“Apart from making arrangements for me and my mother from Ratlam to Vadodara, he also made arrangements for my relatives who flew in from Mumbai to Vadodara to attend my uncle’s last rites. Though SRK was busy with his film’s promotions in Delhi event, he even made sure to know about my family and provided whatever help possible.”
PTI