What’s left in my life now: Pratyusha Banerjee in last phone call to Rahul Raj Singh

Distraught, angry, threatening — the transcripts of the last phone call from Pratyusha Banerjee to boyfriend Rahul Raj Singh provide a telling insight into the 24-year-old Balika Vadhu actress’ state of mind just an hour before she is believed to have committed suicide.

The Bombay High Court heard a recording of the phone call, placed around 3.43 pm on 1 April, as part of the anticipatory bail hearing of Rahul Raj Singh. In the recording, Pratyusha is heard leveling various accusations against Rahul, including cheating on her and separating her from her parents, while he is heard trying to calm her down and asking her to wait for him to get home.

Pratyusha Banerjee. Image from IBNlive

While the prosecution had presented the recording as proof that Rahul had abetted Pratyusha’s suicide, the court in fact took another perspective and stated that the conversation indicated that he had tried to dissuade the actress from taking any extreme steps. The audio clip is around three-and-a-half minutes long.

During the conversation, as reported by India Today, Pratyusha is heard telling Rahul, “I have been called character-less. My life has been threatened; my parents’ lives have been threatened. What is left in my life now?”
To this, Rahul is heard responding: “These are small things.” Pratyusha then says, “How can you say these are small things? Keep your ego aside.”

Previously, it was reported that Pratyusha had told Rahul during the phone call: “You cheated me, separated me from my parents…Now see what I do.” Rahul then requested the actress to wait until he reached home, and that they would talk then.

A little while before Rahul’s plea for anticipatory bail was granted by the court on 25 April, a histopathological report of Pratyusha’s uterine tissues indicated that the actress had undergone an abortion a few days before her demise. Rahul said in an interview that the decision to terminate the pregnancy was one the couple took jointly as they intended to get married only in November.