Pratyusha Banerjee’s dad gave her alcohol, their relationship was complicated: Rahul Raj Singh attacks Balika Vadhu actor’s parents again

He further shared, “Especially after Balika Vadhu ended, her relationship with her father became complicated—they were very friendly when sober, but after drinking, her father would become aggressive, and they’d end up fighting.”

He said he tried his best to help her reduce her alcohol intake and encouraged her to maintain a diary. “I used to tell her to write things like ‘Today you are not supposed to drink early early in the morning.’ I also wrote in it about our daily agenda, especially the non-work habits we needed to change. Today, everyone talks about dieting, and though we weren’t focusing on that, at least we were tyring to cut down daily alcohol intake, or at least bring some moderation. At that time, I brought in Amit Khan. He was a writer who had written song for my film Main Ek Tu.”

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He shared he got him to work with Pratyusha on a new show. “I even told Danish, ‘Watch this show—I’m doing this for her because I want her to make a strong comeback like in Balika Vadhu, in a role where she can prove her abilities. Maybe this will be her last big show.’ She said, ‘I’ll do this one last, I don’t want to play roles like I did in Sasural Simar Ka at such an early stage.’ She had done one or two lead roles, one with Kaveri, but that show didn’t do well. Then there was a DJ’s show on Sony, which also didn’t succeed. After that, she didn’t get any significant roles to prove herself. Sphere Origins didn’t repeat her, nor did DJ’s. Everywhere she faced issues.”

He hinted at tension between her and the production house of Balika Vadhu. “She hadn’t left Balika Vadhu on a good note either. So obviously, production houses won’t call you back. She told me there were creative differences with the team, too much interference from her side, they said. And then there was a payment issue with DJs. Her payment had been stuck for six months, so maybe that led to more problems. These things happen in production. Plus, her expenses were so high, her father’s and mother’s too, that she could never really stop working. Like we discussed earlier, they had loans to repay, so she had to keep earning. But when payments didn’t come on time, she would get frustrated, and relationships in the industry would spoil. She’d call again and again, asking for her money.”

Police reportedly found three cans of beer along with other liquor bottles at her residence. It was also reported that Pratyusha was in a deep financial crisis and couldn’t even afford her car loan.

Case against Rahul Raj Singh

Pratyusha was found dead in her rented apartment in Goregaon West. This led to the arrest of her boyfriend Rahul. He was granted anticipatory bail by Bombay high court on Jule 2, 2016.

Soon after her death, several members of the television industry came forward to share statements against Rahul Raj Singh, suggesting he physically abused her and duped several women of their money on the pretext of producing films. Pratyusha had also undergone an abortion two months before her death, which Rahul claimed was a mutual decision. After her death Rahul Raj Singh claimed the actress had a drinking problem.

When a case was registered against Rahul Raj Singh under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 306 (abetment of suicide), 504 (intentional insult), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), he submitted a discharge plea. This was rejected by a sessions court in Mumbai.

According to News18, Rahul Singh, in his plea claimed he was falsely implicated in the case on account of personal vendetta. At the time of her death, several reports had suggested that her tumultuous relationship with her boyfriend and financial difficulties pushed her into depression.

In August 2023, SJ Ansari, additional sessions judge said, “She had expressed her desire not to live further on account of the same to her aunt Barnali Banerjee and the tarot card reader. The pitiable condition to which the deceased had been reduced to by the accused can scarcely be imagined.” The court further said that she was being completely controlled by the accuses despite living independently.