Pratyusha Banerjee suicide: Charges filed against Rahul Raj Singh

The Mumbai police filed a chargesheet on Wednesday in the suicide case of actress Pratyusha Banerjee. The police has charged actor-producer Rahul Raj Singh, who was Pratyusha’s boyfriend at the time of her death, with assault, intimidation and abetment of suicide.

The chargesheet, which contains over 1,000 pages, includes statements from over 45 witnesses, including Pratyusha’s mother Soma Banerjee, uncle Dipankar Banerjee and actress Kamya Punjabi. The police has also included statements from Pratyusha’s close friends, co-actors and the cook who found her body.

Pratyusha, who shot to fame as Anandi in Balika Vadhu and also participated in a reality show, committed suicide on April 1. The young actress hanged herself at her house in Goregaon. Following her death, there was outrage from her family and friends, and her parents even approached the chief minister and police commissioner demanding that the suicide be investigated as a murder and that Rahul’s role in the case be probed.

Phone conversations between Pratyusha and Rahul, including their argument on the day she killed herself, have also been included in the chargesheet. In addition to witness statements and call data records, the police has also included bank statements, post-mortem reports and the findings of the forensic analysis. Sources said the statements from Pratyusha’s relatives draw attention to the injuries that Pratyusha sustained just days before she killed herself. The chargesheet included statements from her relatives who Pratyusha complained to and to whom she even showed the injury marks on various parts of her body. This was also reflected in the post-mortem report.

The statements of Pratyusha’s mother Soma, who had alleged Rahul had accused her of trying to hamper their wedding plans, are also in the chargesheet. Rahul had also accused Pratyusha’s parents of living off their daughter’s money. In turn, Pratyusha’s parents had alleged it was him who was living off her money.

The investigators submitted the chargesheet on Wednesday at the Borivli court, where Rahul was present along with a friend, Sahila Chaddha. Out on anticipatory bail at present, Rahul has been asked to appear before the court on July 30.