Here's everything you need to know about Malaika Arora's mother, Joyce Polycarp, who has been in the headlines since the unfortunate demise of her ex-husband, Anil Mehta, by suicide.
Malaika Arora was in Pune for an event when she was informed about the unfortunate demise of her father, Anil Mehta. The actress left everything and rushed immediately to her father's residence in Bandra, Mumbai. While she was on the way, Malaika's ex-husband, Arbaaz Khan was among the first people to reach her ex-father-in-law's house. An ambulance was parked outside the building, and there were a lot of Mumbai police officers, along with some members of the forensic department.
It was around 9 am on September 11, 2024, when Malaika Arora's father, Anil Mehta committed suicide by jumping off from the terrace of his Bandra residence. Although no suicide note has been discovered by the police so far, they're still investigating all the possible angles. After Anil Mehta committed suicide, the people immediately called an ambulance and the police. Despite everyone's best efforts, the 62-year-old was pronounced dead before reaching the nearby hospital.
According to a report in FilmiBeat, one of Anil Mehta's neighbours opened up about his character and life. The neighbour revealed that Anil shared a great bond with his daughter, Malaika Arora and her son, Arhaan, who even stayed with his grandfather for some time. Not only this, the neighbour also added that Anil and his ex-wife, Joyce Polycarp also shared a good relationship despite their divorce. However, the neighbour admitted that Anil was low on energy when he met him a few days before his death.
Talking about Anil Mehta's last rites, it took place at the Santa Cruz Hindu crematorium on September 12, 2024, in the presence of his entire family and relatives. Since his demise, many people have been curious about his ex-wife and Malaika Arora's mother, Joyce Polycarp's background. For the uninitiated, Joyce is a Malayali Christian, and she is deeply rooted in her religion. As a result, she has baptized her daughters, Malaika Arora and Amrita Arora.
Talking about Joyce Polycarp's profession, not much is known about it other than the fact that she is a cooking enthusiast. Joyce even has a strong fanbase of 39.9K followers on her official Instagram handle, which is filled with posts about food and recipes. From sharing food-related tips to revealing the recipes of her special mouth-watering delicacies, Joyce is quite popular on Instagram for her content around food. Apart from this, we have seen Joyce supporting her daughters, Malaika and Amrita, on their professional fronts by always dropping lovely posts for them on her IG handle.
Anil Mehta's unfortunate demise has uncovered a series of truths about Malaika Arora's family. Before his death, most of the people used to consider Anil as Malaika's biological father. However, when Malaika shared a post about her father's death on Instagram, she wrote the name, 'Anil Kuldip Mehta', that instantly left everyone scratching their heads. Not only this, as per the post, Anil was born in 1962, while Malaika's birth year is 1973, and the mere age gap of just 11 years almost confirmed that there's something fishy in their family background.
According to a report in The Economic Times, a source close to the family confirmed that Anil Kuldip Mehta was Malaika and Amrita Arora's stepfather. The source revealed that Malaika and Amrita's biological father was Anil Arora, who was a Punjabi and worked in the Indian Merchant Navy. The report further stated that when Malaika was just 11, her parents were separated. However, it is not mentioned whether Joyce separated from Anil Arora or Anil Kuldip Mehta. Although it's a known fact that Joyce divorced both her ex-husbands, Anil Arora and Anil Kuldip Mehta, but the timeline of these two major events isn't known to anyone. As of now, the only revelation we have is that Anil Kuldip Mehta wasn't Malaika and Amrita's biological father.
According to the reports, when Anil Kuldip Mehta committed suicide, his ex-wife, Joyce Polycarp, was in the house. After his unfortunate death, when Joyce was asked about it, she revealed that she found Anil's slippers in the living room and went to the balcony to look for him as he would spend some time there while reading a newspaper. Unfortunately, when she reached there, Anil wasn't there, and she heard her building's watchman screaming for help while standing beside Anil's body.
For the uninitiated, Joyce Polycarp and Anil Kuldip Mehta got divorced a long time ago, but they always remained in touch and shared a friendly bond with each other. As per Joyce's statement, she moved into Anil's residence for the past couple of years. The family is currently in deep shock, and we hope God give them all the strength in the world to deal with this pain that is going to stay with them for the rest of their lives.
What are your thoughts on Malaika Arora's mother, Joyce Polycarp's two marriages and a strong presence on social media as a food influencer? Let us know.
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