Strangulation marks found on Pratyusha's neck in autopsy, last rites held

Ligature marks were detected on the neck of popular TV actress Pratyusha Banerjee, indicating death due to asphyxiation and hanging, according to a preliminary autopsy on Saturday evening.

A team of doctors conducted the post-mortem on her body for over three hours and the entire procedure has been videographed and photographed, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone XI, Vikram Deshmane told media persons.

The autopsy was performed by a team of doctors of Siddharth Hospital, and the preliminary cause of death is due to asphyxia, with the final report still awaited, he added.

The "Balika Vadhu" actress was found hanging from a fan in her suburban Goregaon residence on Friday evening by her boyfriend and television actor Rahul Raj Singh. She was taken to hospital but succumbed there later.

The Bangur Nagar Police has registered an accidental death case and was in the process of recording the statement of Rahul, Deshmane said.

The statements of her parents Shankar and Soma Banerjee, who arrived this morning from Jamshedpur, have also been recorded and further investigations are underway, he added.

Though officials declined to comment, a tattoo bearing the name 'Rahul' - purportedly referring to her boyfriend - was found on her upper back.

Pratyusha's last rites were subsequently carried out at the Oshiwara Crematorium in the presence of her tearful parents, other family members, her friends, actors and co-stars from the television industry.

Rahul was questioned by police on Saturday in an attempt to unravel the probable reasons behind her shocking suicide that left the entertainment industry stunned.

The glamour industry is rife with speculation about her disturbed personal life, her suspected uneasy relationship with Rahul and other aspects that may have prompted her to resort to the extreme step.

Several television industry personalities have claimed on social media networks that Pratyusha was a strong-willed personality and they could not digest she could end her life in this manner.

Prior to Pratyusha, several high-profile suicides of including models-actresses such as Nafisa Joseph, Kuljeet Randhawa, Viveka Babajee, Jiah Khan, Shikha Joshi and Ruby Singh, in the past decade or so, have rocked the entertainment capital.