Almost one and a half months after Pratyusha Banerjee's controversial demise, Kamya Punjabi's 'Justice for Pratyusha' mission remains unswerving. At the same time, the TV actress is hardly affected by allegations that the deceased actress' boyfriend, Rahul Raj Singh, has been making against her every other day.
Claiming that there has been adverse consequences of speaking up, Kamya says, "Yes, I am getting threat calls. But I am Kamya Punjabi, I am not scared of anyone. Rahul is targetting me. You think I care? He knows that I will not give up easily. He knows that I am fearless and what I am saying is on behalf of several others in the industry. There are many out there who do not want to come out in the open, so they are telling me. I am their voice too."
The actress still can't digest the fact that Pratyusha is no more and Rahul is roaming free. "A girl has lost her life and he has not spent a single night in jail. Pratyusha's parents are going from pillar to post to get justice for her. In our country, there is no jaan ki keemat (value of life). Who forced her to take this extreme step? There were marks on Pratyusha's face. There has to be some punishment so that it acts as a deterrent for others. Any man will think 50 times before raising his hand on a woman," she adds.
Recounting TV actress Kuljeet Randhawa's suicide in 2006, Kamya says, "She had left a note behind that no one was responsible for her death, yet her beau Bhanu Uday went through hell and in so many other cases the guys were in the dock, but I am surprised that in Pratyusha's case, things are moving at a snail's pace. We had to fight even for the FIR to be filed. Rahul claimed that he wanted to jump off from the hospital where he was admitted, but the hospital was a single storey building! He did not come for the last rites of Pratyusha as he felt that her parents would beat him up. They were not in a frame of mind to do anything. That was the last time he was going to see her. If only he had come forward, things would have been different."
Kamya on Rahul's allegations:
That she was not as close to Pratyusha as she claims
I got to know Pratyusha during our 'Bigg Boss stint'. Of late, I had lost touch with her. She was a woman in love and given the situation, I felt it was better to stay away. There were people who would keep telling me to make Pratyusha see sense, but when you are in love, you can't see many things. So, I let her be. She had taken a decision to not stay in touch with anyone.
In August last year, Kamya gave Pratyusha's birthday party a skip
I did not go because I did not know Rahul and he had thrown the bash for Pratyusha. I did not even know that there was a Raj Singh after Rahul to his name. I do not party with people I do not know. I had met him only once in January this year briefly during an event for Manish Raisinghani and Barkha Bisht's short film, 'Ankahee Baatein'. He was there with Pratyusha. She introduced me to him and told me that she was getting married and that I should keep myself free for her wedding.
That Kamya had taken Rs 2.5 lakh from Pratyusha
Pratyusha's parents are so upset about this allegation that they have told me to file a defamation case against him for making such a statement. As I owned a box cricket league team, Pratyusha was keen that her dad's NGO be promoted through our team. She had given me Rs 2.5 lakh as the sponsorship amount. Her parents are aware of it. Moreover, this happened three years ago when Rahul was not on the scene. Pratyusha did not even know him at that time. There is big money riding on the box cricket league teams; Rs 2.5 lakh is too small an amount and Rahul should know this.
That Kamya had called Pratyusha a day before she died
The call records will prove it. He can go and find out who had called her. If only Pratyusha had told me what she was going through, I would have brought her to my house.
That Kamya said Rahul has a nine-year-old son from his previous marriage
I stated this during a media meet outside the Malad police station where Pratyusha's parents were present. I said there was an article which says that he was married earlier and has a nine-year-old son. I had clearly said that it was "reported". He needs to go and read the article.