Kriti Mehrotra
As a documentary series living up to its title in nearly every way conceivable, Netflix’s ‘The Indrani Mukerjea Story: Buried Truth’ can honestly only be described as baffling and haunting. That’s because it incorporates not just archival footage but also exclusive interviews to really underscore the 2012 disappearance of Sheena Bora as well as the case against her mother. Amongst those to thus feature in this original is actually the former’s half-sister and hence Indrani Mukerjea’s young daughter, Vidhie Mukerjea — so now, here’s what we know about her.
Who is Vidhie Mukerjea?
Although born on August 26, 1997, to Guwahati native Indrani Pori Bora and her Kolkata-based second husband Sanjeev Khanna as their only daughter, Vidhie primarily grew up in Mumbai. The truth is her parents’ union had sadly begun crumbling soon thereafter, leading to their reported last effort to start anew on India’s west coast in 2001 before ultimately divorcing in 2002. That’s around the same time this matriarch first came across television executive Peter Mukerjea by pure chance, just for them to quickly fall head over heels and tie the knot in November.
Considering Vidhie was merely five at the time, Peter actually legally adopted her to ensure she could be one of the very few individuals fortunate enough to claim she had three caring parents. Yet, per her own accounts in the aforementioned production, her biological father was not really in the picture since her mother had full custody — “he had nothing to do with anything, any of us.” It was instead the former who became her dad in every sense; “I don’t believe in words like ‘step,'” she once candidly asserted. “…He has graced me. He gave me everything and beyond.”
The fact Peter was always genuinely good to Vidhie also played a significant role in their tireless tight-knit connection, along with her mother Indrani’s rigid rules, strictness, plus volatile nature. According to her, this much was particularly on another level from 2012 onwards while they were splitting their time between Mumbai, Spain, and the UK following Sheena’s disappearance plus some professional issues. She expressed, “[My mom] wanted to control what I ate, control how many barbies I got, but my dad was like ‘just give her everything.’ She was perhaps far more strict and a little more violent than she needed to be.”
Holding back tears, Vidhie then added, “It was like a slap on the face was just nothing. I would get slapped for answering back. It really emotionally traumatized me and scarred me.” Nevertheless, the one aspect she still vividly remembers clearly is Indrani’s strange reactions to questions concerning Sheena after her sudden vanishing in April 2012: “I know my mother, and back then, she could be scary. She could be mean… She could be things that any other person would be… When people were repeatedly asking, ‘Where is Sheena? Where is Sheena?’ my mum would go into kind of a fit… and no one asked about her after a certain point.”
Regardless, of course, Vidhie’s entire world turned upside down on August 25, 2015, as she returned from school to find her home being raided and her mother arrested for Sheena’s murder. Though the strangest facet of this entire ordeal remains the fact she was introduced to the latter/victim in 2006 as Indrani’s younger sister rather than firstborn — she thus believed her half-sister was her aunt for the longest time, yet they still managed to grow close. In fact, when Sheena apparently revealed the actuality of her identity to this teen mere months preceding her vanishing, all she could express was joy about them being so tightly related.
Then came not only the alleged murder but also Indrani’s arrest, Peter’s decision to cancel Vidhi’s 18th birthday gift for the day after (their South Mumbai apartment), and his own November arrest. However, it was admittedly the latter that affected her most — she once stated, “My father is the one person in this world who I can share anything with. Once he went to prison, I truly felt alone. My friends had disappeared and I felt like I had to parent myself.” The fact his family had also made it clear she had to pick sides didn’t help either because she then had to go against her mother for years despite having a feeling there was more to the story.
Vidhie Mukerjea Now Leads a Quiet Life While Supporting Her Mother Too
It was in the early 2020s when Vidhie had made her way to court to give Peter a hug, only for his ex-wife Indrani (their divorce was finalized in 201 9) to also be there and approach her. That’s the moment this young woman blew up: “I yelled at her,” she has since conceded. “I just straight up was like, ‘What the f*** are you doing? How can you do this?’ I told her she’d stolen all the money from my dad. I told her she’d done this [shattered our family apart]. I told her she was a murderer.” But then she went home, wept, and reportedly attempted suicide prior to waking up to the core realization Indrani was, is, and always will be her mother first.
“The moment I woke up [in the hospital],” Vidhie said in the docuseries, “I just saw my mother’s face in my mind, and I cried and cried and cried and cried. I missed her, I actually allowed myself to miss her. I wasn’t there for her. I should’ve been there for her.” She hence decided to express her own opinions publicly for the first time once Indrani was granted bail in 2022, only for her dad’s side of the family — the Mukerjeas — to turn their back on her. This ‘Devil’s Daughter’ (2021) author wanted to live with her mother, so she did so with the hopes this side she finally chose is the right one — the one of truth as well as justice rather than manipulation.
Vidhie continued, “To me, the word ‘family’ isn’t that important… because I don’t know what family means to me like the way other people know it. I’m not trying to be a detective with my mom. All I’m focused on right now is being there for [her] as a daughter, murderer or not.” In other words, from what we can tell, this 26-year-old is currently living with her peace by dividing her time between Mumbai and Goa to move on from the past to the best of her abilities. She’s also emotionally backing her mother, all the while hoping her half-sister’s case will soon be resolved for good to give everyone some much-needed closure.
Read More: Indrani Mukerjea: Where is Sheena Bora’s Mom Now?
