Pratyusha death: Boyfriend Rahul Raj Singh questioned

Police on Saturday launched an investigation into Pratyusha Banerjee’s suicide and questioned her boyfriend Rahul Raj Singh.

This comes even as friends claimed their relationship was not going well, a contention dismissed by her kin.

The 24-year-old, who shot to fame for her portrayal of Anandi, a popular character in hit TV drama series Balika Vadhu, was found hanging from the ceiling at her flat in Mumbai on April 1.

The preliminary report by doctors gives the “provisional cause of death” as asphyxia, a police officer said.

Her last rites were performed at Oshiwara crematorium at around 6pm as the TV industry, friends and family members bid an emotional adieu to her.

Several television personalities such as Kamya Punjabi, Smita Bansal, Rohit Verma, Rakhi Sawant, Ejaz Khan, Ratan Rajput, Sara Khan, Pooja Bose, Shilpa Saklani, Apoorva Agnihotri, Jay Bhanusali, Mahi Vij and others attended the funeral.

Banerjee’s mother was inconsolable and kept saying, “I don’t know why my daughter did this.”

According to reports, she had been facing problems with Singh, who is being questioned by police.

“We are recording the statement of Rahul in connection with the suicide. We are also checking the last phone call details and the SMSes exchanged between the duo,” a senior police official said.

Although Singh was not detained, he was brought to Siddharth Municipal Hospital in suburban Goregaon where the autopsy of the actress was conducted, police said.

A senior police official said Banerjee’s parents didn’t level any allegations against Singh in their statement.

Her parents said Banerjee and her boyfriend did fight sometimes, but patched up soon after.

Police haven’t found any indication of foul play either.

Singh’s lawyer Neeraj Gupta said his client has nothing to do with the suicide. “My client is innocent. Let police investigate the case and find the reason behind the suicide. Let’s see if any evidence comes up against him,” he said.

“There was no financial crisis and they were perfectly happy and there was no fight between the two,” he added.

Some of Banerjee’s friends, meanwhile, said their relationship was not going well.

“There were injury marks on her nose, under her eyes. We have taken pictures [as proof]. Police are probing a domestic violence angle. We will give our statement to the police,” Banerjee’s actress friend Kamya Punjabi said.

Producer Vikas Gupta said he had offered a show to Banerjee, but she was not keen to accept the offer because of the trouble in her personal life.

“She had distanced us from her so we don’t know exactly what happened. She was away from her family. We used to meet her everyday. As friends we know she was having problem,” Gupta said.

However, Banerjee’s family said she did not suffer from any bout of depression.