2016 suicide case | Rahul made Pratyusha Banerjee’s life a living hell: court
The court noted that it was the harassment by the accused that made Pratyusha think about suicide.
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Rahul Raj Singh and Pratyusha Banerjee Rejecting the discharge plea of Rahul Raj Singh (33), who was booked for abetting the suicide of his 24-year-old girlfriend and actor Pratyusha Banerjee, the sessions court at Dindoshi recently noted that the statements of witnesses in the case prima facie showed that the accused had made the life of the deceased a “living hell”. The court noted that it was the harassment by the accused that made Pratyusha think about suicide.
Banerjee, known for the leading role in television serial Balika Vadhu, died by suicide in her rented flat in Goregaon (West) on April 1, 2016. Singh, who was booked for abetting her suicide was granted anticipatory bail by the Bombay High Court in July, 2016. In April 2018, the Bangur Nagar police filed a chargesheet in the case, prompting Singh to file a plea seeking discharge in the matter.
Singh claimed that while the couple was planning to get married in December, 2016, Banerjee was deeply disturbed due to constant interference by her mother in her affairs.
Singh argued that proof of mere harassment would not satisfy the requirements of offence punishable under Section 306 (abatement of suicide) under the Indian Penal Code (IPC), and claimed that she was harassed by her parents and not by him.
However, additional sessions judge SJ Ansari in her 28-page order passed on August 14, which was recently made available, observed, “…it is prima facie clear that it was the conduct of the accused, that is, his physical, emotional and financial harassment and exploitation of her, which had landed the deceased in depression, such that she had expressed her desire not to live further on account of the same to her aunt.”
The court noted, “The accused who was living with the deceased could not be said to have been unaware about the state of her mind as also of she being caught in a catch 22 situation i.e. about she being aware of it being beneficial and necessary to leave her exploitive partner, but still wanting to marry him. This state of being of Pratyusha, as per material on record, was on account of accused, whose harassment made her think about suicide. The fact that he did not take any steps to alleviate her sufferings, in my opinion, will clearly bring him within the clutches of having abetted the suicide…”
Referring to statements of the witnesses, the judge observed, “The said statements, in my opinion, will prima facie show that after entering the life of the deceased, the accused had made the same a living hell. This had been done by first making her parents distant from her and then stopping her from being in contact with and meeting her various friends.”
Rejecting his discharge application, the judge noted that considering the material available in the chargesheet, “prima facie there was material to reflect the involvement of the accused in the crimes for which he has been chargesheeted”.
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