Celina Jaitly says she left Austria to come to India with ‘hardly any money’ after hearing of her brother's detention

Celina Jaitly’s brother, retired Major Vikrant Jaitley, was detained in the United Arab Emirates in September, and has been in detention for over 14 months.

Actor Celina Jaitly has been demanding answers over the detainment of her brother, Maj (Rtd) Vikrant Kumar Jaitly, in the United Arab Emirates since September last year. A few days ago, the Delhi High Court issued an order permitting the appointment of a UAE-based legal firm to represent her brother, Major (retd.) Vikrant Jaitly. The actor spoke to news agency PTI about the first time she heard about the detention and shared how she decided to leave Austria. (Also read: Preity Zinta tells Celina Jaitly not to ‘lose hope’ after Delhi HC order allowing UAE lawyers to represent her brother)

Celina Jaitly with her brother Major (Retd.) Vikrant Kumar Jaitly.

What Celina shared

Celina had previously opened up about her domestic violence case against her husband, Peter Haag. Last year, she filed a case against her husband, Peter Haag, under the Domestic Violence Act, for domestic violence, cruelty and manipulation.

Talking about the situation at her home in Austria, Celina said, “I got to know around September 29. The call came at around nine at night. I was living in Austria then. At first, I thought my brother was playing a prank. For an hour, I dismissed it as one of his stupid jokes… I was in a very abusive and bad marriage. But when you have children, you do everything to make that work. When you don't have parents, when you no longer have your assets, you do everything to keep your marriage going, specifically for your children."

'At 1 o'clock in the night, with hardly any money…'

She went on to add that she decided to come to India shortly after. She said, "I took that decision in the middle of battle, without dragging my children into it. Knowing that if I don't leave Austria, I won't be able to stand up for my brother. At 1 o'clock in the night, with hardly any money, a ticket bought on a credit card, I left Austria and came to India."

The actor added that nobody came to her support. She had to seek a court injunction just to enter her Mumbai home, alleging that her estranged husband was attempting to sell the property without her consent. She then approached the Delhi High Court to pursue action to bring her brother back.

The actor’s petition claimed that her brother had been illegally abducted and detained in the UAE since September 2024. She contended that despite more than a year having passed, the Centre had failed to obtain even basic information about his welfare or legal status.