Pratyusha Banerjee ex boyfriend Rahul Raj lashes out at Kamya Punjabi ahead of court hearing: 'I challenge….'

Nine years have passed since the tragic death of Pratyusha Banerjee, known for her role as Anandi in Balika Vadhu, who died by suicide. Her ex-boyfriend, Rahul Raj Singh, has faced significant challenges and legal battles in the aftermath.

Now, ahead of the upcoming hearing on July 18, 2025, related to the defamation case, Rahul Singh while talking to Bollywood Bubble has criticized Kamya Punjabi and producer Neeru Shah for allegedly not attending court hearings related to a defamation case. Singh had filed the case against Punjabi for her claims that he was involved in the murder of a Balika Vadhu actress. In his statement, Singh questioned their intentions and expressed frustration over their supposed absence from court proceedings for the past three months.

“I have been fighting a lone battle for the last 8 years. When, unfortunately, this incident took place, the entire world turned against me despite there being no proof against me. It all started when a few idiots started blabbering in the media that Pratyusha couldn’t have committed suicide and it was a murder. While these people said it for their two minutes of fame and created a narrative of murder out of nowhere, it changed my life forever for the worse. I have been battling legal cases related to this for the last 8 years, and my pain and hardship is only known to me. From legal battles to issues regarding my own mental health and family, I have gone through all of it," Rahul said.

He further added, “Kamya Punjabi and Producer Neeru Shah had absolutely no business to relate their short film to Pratyusha’s death. But the moment they realised her death is an opportunity for their short film’s marketing and promotion, they chose to say absolute nonsense about me in the media. I had enough and since I know that I am right, I filed a defamation case of 1 crore each against Kamya and Neeru, alongside third-party platforms like Google and YouTube. I must bring this to everyone’s knowledge that for the last 3 months, both Kamya and Neeru have been chickening out in the matter and have literally been missing court appearances whenever a date was given by the honourable judge."

“Till today, despite the court asking them to submit evidence about their claim that I killed Prayusha, they haven’t been able to provide anything. All they have been doing is avoiding court appearances for the last 3 months. But I have had enough. I challenge both Kamya and Neeru to submit evidence against me to prove their claim in the next hearing date on the matter which is 18th July, 2025.”

Rahul challenged Kamya and Neeru to present their evidence to support their accusations, urging them to attend the court hearings. He stated that it was easy to make unsubstantiated claims for publicity, exploiting someone else's suffering. He questioned the lack of evidence despite seven years having passed since the allegations were made. Rahul demanded that they either provide evidence to substantiate their claims or face potential jail time for damaging his life.

Pratyusha Banerjee gained widespread recognition for her portrayal of Anandi in the popular series Balika Vadhu. Tragically, she passed away on April 1, 2016, in what was reported as a suicide.