Pratyusha Banerjee suicide case: Boyfriend Rahul Raj Singh walks free after 10 years

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday discharged accused Rahul Raj Singh from the actor Pratyusha Banerjee suicide case, where he was charged with abetment to suicide. Banerjee was famous for playing the character of Anandi in the television show Balika Vadhu.

The bench of Justice Shivkumar Dige relied on the last conversation that Banerjee had with Raj before dying by suicide on April 1, 2016, to discharge Raj from the decade-old case.

The 24-year-old actor was found dead in her flat by her then-boyfriend and live-in partner, actor-producer Rahul Raj Singh, who rushed her to the hospital where she was declared dead.

Pratyusha's parents filed a police complaint accusing Rahul of physical, emotional, and financial abuse, claiming his harassment drove her to suicide. An FIR was registered for abetment of suicide, assault, and criminal intimidation.

The Dindoshi Sessions court had rejected the discharge plea that Raj had filed and was to frame charges against him. The trial court had held that "this being a matter of delicate analysis of human behaviour, each case is required to be examined on its own facts, while taking note of all the surrounding factors having bearing on the actions and psyche of the accused and the deceased," to order Raj to undergo the trial. Raj had challenged the same in the High Court.

Advocates Aabad Ponda and Shreyansh Mithare, appearing for Raj, had argued that the last conversation that Banerjee had could show that he had been pleading with her to not take the extreme step while he was assuring her that he was on way to meet her, but in that conversation she kept blaming everyone including her parents for pushing her to the brink.

Pratyusha and Raj were in a live-in relationship. It was based on this very conversation that the Bombay High Court in 2016 had granted anticipatory bail to Raj.

In the conversation, the late actor had told Rahul that she was talking to him for the last time, while Rahul tried to convince her otherwise. He could be heard telling her that he had turned around his car and was on his way to meet her.