Don’t tarnish #PratyushaBanerjee’s image: Friends say she wasn’t depressed

#Mumbai:  Actress Trouble in her love life, financial instability and depression have been brought up as the reasons behind actress Pratyusha Banerjee’s alleged suicide. However, the 24-year-old’s friends have come forward to say that she was not depressed and didn’t have any financial issues.

Designer Rohit Verma, who was designing Pratyusha’s wedding lehenga, says this rumour mongering is maligning her image. “She’d come to my store and buy things. She never took anything on credit. Whenever we went out for meals, we split the bill. I don’t think she was depressed either. I spoke to her recently and she sounded fine. People should not tarnish her image by speculating,” he says.

Close friend, actor Vivek Mishra says that Pratyusha’s expenses had gone up recently as she was also paying for her boyfriend, actor-producer Rahul Raj Singh, but she was financially sound. “She was financially stable, however, Rahul was not. She was preparing for her wedding and told me that she will go on a break after that. She wanted to have a baby within a year. You have to be financially stable to make such plans,” he says.

Meanwhile, in an interview to Mid Day, Rahul explained what happened on Friday, the day Pratyusha hanged herself. “Pratyusha started drinking and I was trying to convince her not to do it this early in the day. She did not listen to me. After a while, I too joined her. At around1pm, I left home for some work. After almost an hour, I called her on her phone but it was switched off,” said Rahul.

“After several attempts, she finally answered the phone. I asked her if she wanted me to pack lunch for her but she refused. I reached home and the door was locked from inside. I asked my neighbour’s domestic help to enter the house from the balcony and unlatch the door. When he entered, he found Pratyusha hanging from the ceiling fan of the living room,” he said. Rahul was hospitalised on Sunday after he complained of chest pain.