'Had Ness apologised to Preity, this could've been avoided'

Mumbai, Jun 28: One of the first witnesses to record his statement in the Preity Zinta-Ness Wadia case, businessman and mutual friend, Danish Merchant, wants Wadia to apologise to the actress and finish it off.

Merchant, who was seated next to Zinta on the day of the incident, recounts, “I was sitting next to her when Ness approached her and they had an argument. Preity was deeply disturbed after that. The next day, I learnt from the papers that his mother couldn’t get a seat, and guessed that was the reason for his aggression.”

However, according to the builder, Zinta and her friends had only occupied six to seven seats, and most of them were common friends. While Danish said that he was not aware of any other similar incident, he admitted that a close friend of Preity intervened when the argument was going on near the seats. “He asked Ness to back off.”

When asked if Wadia used foul language during the duo’s argument, he said, “Using foul language is quite common nowadays, so that wasn’t a big deal.” However, when asked if Wadia held the actress’s hand, he said, “He did, and I only got to know the next day how aggressive he was, when she showed red marks on her arm and remarked, ‘Is this how you treat people?’”

“I cannot take any stand in the case at the moment. But yes, had Ness apologised to Preity the next day itself, the entire situation could have been avoided. It is best to be honest and accept mistakes.

As it is, both of them have gone their separate ways,” he said, adding, “I hope nothing like this should happen to anyone. It is a big lesson for me, too, as I am short-tempered as well, and sometimes use foul language. I should be careful while talking to a woman.”