TV actor Pratyusha Banerjee with her boyfreind Rahul Raj Singh (File photo)
Highlights
- Pratyusha Banerjee died due to asphyxiation, hanging: Autopsy report
- She was found hanging from a fan by her boyfriend Rahul Raj Singh
- Mr Singh says he is innocent, he was questioned by cops on Saturday
Television actor Pratyusha Banerjee, known for her role of Anandi in a daily show "Balika Vadhu", died due to asphyxiation and hanging, a preliminary autopsy report said.
A team of doctors conducted the post-mortem on her body for over three hours and the entire procedure has been videographed and photographed, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone XI, Vikram Deshmane told media yesterday.
The actress was found hanging from a fan in her suburban Goregaon residence on Friday evening by her boyfriend and television actor Rahul Raj Singh. She was taken to hospital but succumbed there later.
Pratyusha's live-in boyfriend Rahul, who was questioned by police on Saturday in an attempt to unravel the possible reasons behind her suicide, said he was "innocent" as some of Pratyusha's friend claimed things were not going well in her personal life, a contention dismissed by her kin.
"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.
A senior police official said Pratyusha's parents didn't level any allegations against Mr Singh in their statement. Her parents said Pratyusha and her boyfriend did fight sometimes, but patched up soon thereafter.
Police hadn't found any indication of foul play either, he added.
Mr Singh's lawyer said his client has nothing to do with 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 (Singh and Pratyusha) were perfectly happy and there was no fight between the two," he added.
Some of Pratyusha's friends meanwhile said things were not going well in her personal life.
"There were injury marks on her nose, under her eyes. We have taken pictures (as a proof)... police are probing domestic violence angle. We will give our statement to the police," Pratyusha's actress friend Kamya Punjabi claimed.
Producer Vikas Gupta said he had offered a show to Pratyusha, but she was not keen to accept the offer because of the trouble in her personal life.
"She was having 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.
Pratyusha's last rites were carried out at the Oshiwara Crematorium in the presence of her tearful parents, other family members, her friends, actors and co-stars from the television industry.
Prior to Pratyusha, several high-profile suicides of including models-actresses such as Nafisa Joseph, Kuljeet Randhawa, Viveka Babajee, Jiah Khan, Shikha Joshi and Ruby Singh, in the past decade or so, have rocked the entertainment capital.