Ghazal singer Chitra Singh's daughter Monica commits suicide, depression blamed
Mumbai - A pall of gloom has descended on the life of famous Ghazal singers Jagjit and Chitra Singh. The famous duo, who lost their son Vivek in a freak road accident in 1990, were left stunned when they saw, Friday, that Monica Chaudhury, Chitra's daughter from her first marriage, had committed suicide.
Chitra was staying with Monica, 50, for the past one month in the latter's Bandra residence, had retired late into the night on Thursday. On Friday morning, when Monica did not respond despite Chitra knocking on her bedroom door several times, Monica's elder son Armaan entered through a bathroom window and was shocked to see his mother hanging from the ceiling fan in her Bandra residence in an apparent case of suicide.
Immediately, her lifeless body was rushed to Bhabha Hospital, which declared her dead on arrival. Her body has now been sent to Cooper Hospital for postmortem, the results of which are still awaited.
Police, who are investigating the incident, said prima facie it looked like a case of suicide as Monica was suffering from extreme depression for some time because of her failed marriage.
Monica Chaudhury, or Monica Dutt (daughter of Chitra and her first husband Debo Prasad Dutt), was a famous print model in the 1980s. Her first marriage was to cinematographer Jehangir Chaudhary in 1988 but they divorced in February 2005 citing irreconcilable differences. The same year she fell in love with British national Mark Atkins, then managing director of Compass Business Outsourcing, and married him two months later.
The second marriage, however, also turned sour and Monica was forced to lodge a dowry torture case against Atkins in September 2007, alleging assault and harassment. The litigation has been running since then and it had robbed Monica of her peace and happiness, police said.
"Monica was depressed due to her marital problems. Her family members didn't make any allegation of abetment to suicide and we have registered a complaint of accidental death," said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone IX) Niket Kaushik.
Agrees Additional Commissioner of Police (western region) Amitabh Gupta. "She (Monica) had a troubled marriage and was depressed," Gupta said.
However, Gupta added that they have not ruled out foul play, as there was no suicide note, and will look into all possible angles leading to her death.
Chitra Singh, who gave up singing after Vivek died, was not available for comment.
Monica is survived by her two sons Umer, 13 and Armaan, 19.
Meanwhile, Monica's death has sent shockwave through India's entertainment industry, which is no stranger to cases of suicide.
"I was quite close to Jagjitji. The moment I read about this suicide in the newspaper, I recalled that they had lost their only son Vivek in a car accident in 1990. Now, it's another shock. I am sure something must have gone awfully wrong with Monika for which she had to take this extreme step," said Bollywood playback singer Alka Yagnik.
"I just want to say, my heart goes out to Jagjit and Chitraji. They've lost both their children tragically. As a parent, I know there could be no greater loss," said Bollywood actress Pooja Bedi, who witnessed her schizophrenic brother Siddharth take his own life in 1997.
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