Ten years after actress Pratyusha Banerjee died by suicide, the Bombay high court on September 30 discharged her then boyfriend, actor-producer Rahul Singh, from the suicide abetment case. Rahul had filed a discharge application in the high court after the Dindoshi sessions court in Bombay had rejected his discharge plea in August 2023. The sessions court had ruled that she died by suicide apparently as she was depressed because of physical, emotional, financial harassment and exploitation by Rahul Singh.
A single-judge bench of Justice Shivkumar Dige on September 30 allowed Singh to be discharged from the case.
Pratyusha, famous for her role in TV serial Balika Vadhu, died by suicide in her flat at Goregaon West in Bombay on April 1, 2016. Rahul was booked for abetting the suicide. He was granted anticipatory bail by the Bombay high court on July 6, 2016.
Two years after the probe, the Bangur Nagar police filed a chargesheet in the case in April 2018. Rahul Singh filed a discharge plea thereafter. In his plea, the ex-boyfriend said that Pratyusha was “deeply disturbed and frustrated” due to the “constant interference” by her parents in her affairs, not because of him. He also relied on the last telephonic conversation recorded between him and Pratyusha just before her death, when he was trying to console the actress because she was upset with her parents.
Pratyusha’s mother had alleged that Rahul was a possessive boyfriend and assaulted Pratyusha on several occasions. She also said, he drained her financially.
After hearing both the sides, the Bombay high court granted Rahul Singh discharge.