Rahul is booked on charges of abetment to suicide.
By Dileep Thekkethil
Pratyusha Banerjee’s boyfriend Rahul Raj Singh was denied anticipatory bail by a Mumbai court in connection with the suicide of the “Balika Vadhu” actress.
The police had earlier filed an FIR against Rahul on charges of abetment to suicide based on the complaint filed by the actress’s parents.
According to The New Indian Express, Rahul had filed a plea on Wednesday requesting the court to grant anticipatory bail. The report says that the actor-producer feared an imminent arrest after the discharge from the hospital where he is currently under treatment for hypertension.
On Wednesday, Neeraj Gupta, the first lawyer hired to defend the actor, backed out from the case citing that his client was unreliable as he hides many crucial facts that might weaken the defense.
“I withdrew from the case on humanitarian grounds. I felt that I shouldn’t be fighting the case, and hence left it be so that injustice is not done to anyone,” Gupta told PTI.
When asked if his decision to quit the case came in the wake of an FIR filed against Rahul, Gupta said, “The FIR has nothing to do with the decision. A lawyer is always prepared for such things.”
“A client should pass on all the information, right or wrong, good or bad, to the lawyer, but I was kept in the dark and got all the details (pertaining to the case) from outside (media),” he added claimed.
As of now the police has not commented on the reason that led them to file an FIR against the actor, but India Today reported that the actor-producer was in a relationship with another woman, and this might have strained his relationship with Pratyusha who took the extreme step.
According to the doctors who are currently attending to Rahul, he is yet to become normal as he shows signs of suicidal tendency.
Dr. Santosh Goel, who is currently treating Rahul, was quoted by The Hindu saying, “I cannot leave him now because he can do anything. He is still on medication and becomes violent when effect of medicine wanes.”
Pratyusha came to limelight after her TV serial “Balika Vadhu” became one of the most successful serials creating a world record for highest number of episodes. The serial is still on-air. She was popular among households as “Anandi”, the name of the character she did in the serial.
Pratyusha was found dead in her apartment, which she shared with Rahul, on April 1. There were reports that the two were seriously considering about getting married, but some close friends of Pratyusha now say that Rahul was cheating on her.
In the meanwhile, a heated debate has started between columnist Shobha De and actress turned BJP MP Hema Malini after the latter tweeted: “One must learn to overcome all odds & emerge successful, not succumb under pressure & give up easily. The world admires a fighter, not a loser”
She also wrote: “All these senseless suicides which achieve nothing! Life is God’s gift for us to live not for us to take at will. We have no right to do that.”
But the noted columnist and feminist Shobha De who found the words disrespectful of the actress wrote in her column in NDTV that she felt “disappointed” with Malini’s statement and labelled it as ‘insensitive’ and ‘irresponsible’.
“No, Hema. This young person was not a loser. It is cruel to call her that. She was just unable to cope with her overburdened life. Like many other persons – young and old. That doesn’t make them ‘losers’,” she wrote in her article.
“Pratyusha died a fighter. She fought till she had the strength to keep fighting. The world will not write her off. She was no loser. Do take your harsh words back, Hema. As a mother, I implore you,” she added.