Television actors, family bid adieu to Pratyusha Banerjee

Mumbai: Several television personalities, friends and family members of TV actress Pratyusha Banerjee, who allegedly committed suicide here yesterday, today bid a tearful adieu to her. The 24-year-old actress, who shot to fame with her role as Anandi in TV show “Balika Vadhu”, was found hanging from the ceiling at her flat last evening. Pratyusha’s last rites were performed at Oshiwara crematorium here around 6 pm. Several television personalities Kamya Punjabi, Smita Bansal, Rohit Verma, Rakhi Sawant, Ejaz Khan, Ratan Rajput, Sara Khan, Pooja Bose, Shilpa Saklani, Apoorva Agnihotri, Jay Bhanusali, Mahi Vij and others attended the funeral. Pratyusha’s mother was inconsolable and she kept saying, “I don’t know why my daughter did this.” Pratyusha was 18 when she was selected to play the grown-up Anandi in “Balika Vadhu”. After exiting from the daily soap, she appeared in reality shows “Bigg Boss 7″ and “Jhalak Dikhla Jaa”. She was last seen in TV show “Hum Hain Naa”. Reportedly, Pratyusha had been dating producer Rahul Raj Singh. According to reports, she was facing problems in her relationship with Singh. According to police, the actress, prima facie, committed suicide in her flat in ‘At Harmony’ building at around 1700 hours yesterday after which she was taken to Kokilaben Hospital in suburban Andheri by her friend, where she was declared dead.