'I Found Her Alive, Tried CPR': Rahul Raj Singh Recounts the Moment He Discovered Pratyusha Banerjee Hanging - Exclusive

In a rare and emotionally charged conversation, Rahul Raj Singh opens up about the darkest chapter of his life - being accused of murdering his girlfriend, television star Pratyusha Banerjee, in 2016. For years, he has remained at the centre of a controversy that shook the nation. Now, Rahul revisits his relationship with Pratyusha, the trauma she faced within her own home, their last heartbreaking conversation, and the harrowing moment he discovered her unresponsive. In an exclusive conversation with The Free Press Journal, he recounts how he was vilified overnight, called a murderer, and not even allowed to attend her last rites. Through his account, Rahul asserts that the truth was buried under public outrage, and he continues to carry the burden of that day even today.

On 1 April 2016, Pratyusha was found dead by hanging in her Mumbai apartment at the age of 24. According to the postmortem report the cause of death was asphyxia. However, her parents alleged she was murdered by her boyfriend, Rahul, and passed off as suicide. They then pressed charges against him. 

Rahul, on the other hand, explained how deeply Pratyusha was affected by her father’s behaviour. “She was in a very messed-up situation when we met. She was not doing well mentally, so at that time, we got emotionally attached and dated for around 10 months before she passed away. She wasn’t doing well because her father was a very bad human being. He used to abuse her, and she used to get very affected by that. It used to break her.”

Rahul recalled their final phone call and Pratyusha’s emotional state just hours before her death. “2–3 days before her death, there was a conversation between her father and her where some abuses happened. In our last conversation, I was asking her, why are you feeling so bad? She said she doesn’t like to hear abuses. So I asked, who is abusing you? She said it’s her father who is abusing her. When a father abuses his daughter, it affects a lot. I also have a daughter, so I imagine that if I am abusing her, how bad would she feel? Pratyusha used to tell me, ‘I am earning and my father is spending all that drinking alcohol.’ How bad is that? It affects people’s minds.”

Rahul described the terrifying moment he discovered Pratyusha and his desperate attempt to save her. “I was the first one to reach and with the help of a locksmith, we tried to open the door. Our flat had a balcony that was interconnected. We were trying to open the gate because even when I rang the bell, she wasn’t opening. I tried to break the lock. I had a bad feeling. I thought maybe she was drunk or had gone to sleep. So the locksmith went from behind, and he got scared. His hands were trembling. The lock wasn’t opening from inside because he got nervous seeing her hanging. When he opened the door and I looked up, she was hanging in a black satin dress. It was very bad. I gathered my courage and took her to the hospital. She was alive while I was taking her there. I even tried to give her CPR but she didn’t make it.”

Rahul spoke about the allegations, the public outrage and how his life changed overnight. “When all this happened, they put the entire blame on me and the investigation went completely off track. They didn’t even let me go to the cremation ground. These people kept saying, ‘He is the murderer, he killed her, he hung her.’ What motive would I have to hang her? Did I come to Bombay to kill my own girlfriend? People kept saying these things, and even today, I am called a ‘murderer.’”