01 October,2026 04:43 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Rahul Raj Singh and Pratyusha Banerjee. Pic via X
Almost a decade after television actor Pratyusha Banerjee died by suicide in Mumbai, the Bombay High Court has now acquitted her former boyfriend and actor-producer Rahul Raj Singh in the controversial case. The court's recent decision gives Singh significant relief from facing trial in the alleged abetment-to-suicide case.
According to PTI, the Bombay High Court allowed Singh's revision plea, which challenged the Dindoshi Sessions Court's earlier decision to reject his discharge application. Notably, after police filed a chargesheet in the death case in 2018, the sessions court had earlier turned down the actor's plea in August 2023,
Justice Shivkumar G Dige considered the couple's recorded final telephone conversation before passing the order. In the conversation, Singh was heard trying to dissuade Banerjee from taking any extreme step. Singh was booked under provisions relating to abetment of suicide, assault and criminal intimidation when Banerjee's mother approached the Bangur Nagar police following her death.
The allegations against him included mental and physical harassment. He had earlier received anticipatory bail from the Bombay High Court in July 2016, and subsequently sought discharge from the case, arguing that the evidence did not establish the enough proof to prosecute him for abetment.
One of the major points Justice Dige considered during the recent hearing was the recorded conversation between Singh and Banerjee before her death. Senior advocate Aabad Ponda and advocate Shreyansh Mithare, representing Singh, argued that the conversation showed Singh attempting to discourage Banerjee from taking a drastic step. In the conversation, Singh reportedly told Banerjee that he had turned his car around and was travelling to meet her.
The lawyers argued that the conversation was inconsistent with claims that Singh intentionally abetted her suicide, while also highlighting how Banerjee spoke about several people, including her parents, while discussing her distress during the conversation.
Pratyusha, who became widely popular for her role as Anandi in the hit television series Balika Vadhu, was found dead at her rented apartment in Goregaon on April 1, 2016. Following her death, Singh was booked for abetting her suicide and was granted anticipatory bail by the Bombay High Court on July 2, 2016.
Two years after the investigation, the Bangur Nagar police filed a chargesheet in the case in April 2018, following which the actor had filed a plea for discharge.
