Besides the bulk of Bollywood and his die-hard fans, Sanjay Dutt has a new well-wisher in ex-girlfriend of gangster Abu Salem, Monica Bedi.

When mediapersons met Monica at her residence in Punjab where she has been staying since securing bail, she reacted on Sanjay's six-year sentence: "I really could not control my tears. Sanju is such a nice person. He could never harm anyone. I was expecting him to be acquitted on all charges."

After spending five years behind bars in Portugal and India, Monica is quite familiar with the hardships of prison life. "Sanju has suffered a lot already. There can't be anything worse than life in jail for him," she opined.

Recalling her association with the actor in 2001 during the shoot of a film in Switzerland, Monica said: "He is a shy guy. When we were shooting a song, Sanju was very reluctant to do a romantic scene in a park. He confessed to being uncomfortable doing dance sequences in public."

Hoping that Sanjay is let off by a higher court, she added: "Sanju was very young in 1993. All of us have made mistakes that we have regretted later in life. He still has an appeal pending. I am sure the higher court will be more considerate."