Kochi, July 8 :  Issues between divorced Malayalam star couple - Urvasi and Manoj K. Jayan - Sunday took another turn with the former commencing legal steps against the latter for lowering her dignity by calling her a drunkard.

The two separated in 2008 after eight years of marriage and have been engaged in a legal battle over possession of their 10-year-old daughter since then.

Things went from bad to worse Friday when at the Family Court here, Jayan told the media that Urvasi had come drunk and that she is an alcoholic.

"What all was he saying yesterday about me to the media in the premises of the court? Forget me as Urvasi, a film actress. I am a woman and a woman has to be respected," said the actress to the media.

"I am currently recovering from a surgery and due to that, I am under medication and hence I have some problems. But how can he say such nonsense about me? If he does not have sense, at least his counsel should have stopped him from saying such things about me," she added.

She has sent a legal notice asking Jayan to apologise if he wants avoid legal action.

Meanwhile Uravsi's daughter Kunjatta too said that her mother was drunk on Friday.

"I have never seen my father drinking. On Friday, since my mother was drunk, I did not want to go with her," she told reporters.

Currently, Kunjatta stays with Jayan, who has married again. While Urvasi, who remains single, meets her daughter once in a week.

On the statement given by her daughter, Urvasi said: "She has been well tutored to say all this."

© IANS