SUICIDES:

12 May 1949: Kameshwar Nath Sehgal (49), danseuse/Theatre/Bolly actor Zohra Sehgal’s husband, committed suicide after chronic alcoholism.

10 October 1964: Actor/director Guru Dutt (39) died from a combination of alcohol and an overdose of sleeping pills. His death was widely perceived as a suicide following two earlier attempts.

1991: Just a year after their marriage, Delhi-based businessman Mukesh Aggarwal (actor Rekha’s second husband) hanged himself from fan by tying a dupatta (supposedly of Rekha). He dealt in Niki Tasha kitchenette cooking ranges.

1 March 1994: Producer/director Manmohan Desai (57) committed suicide at his home in Khetwadi by jumping from the building that he owned, near Grant Road, Mumbai. He was ailing and suffering from chronic back pain.

23 September 1996: Actor Silk Smitha (35) committed suicide in Chennai. Financial problems, failure in love and alcoholism plus depression led to it. She had acted in Sadma (1983).

19 July 1997: Siddharth Bedi (26), (son of danseuse Protima Bedi and actor Kabir Bedi), suffering from Schizophrenia, committed suicide, while he was studying in North Carolina, USA.

c. 2000: Actor Reem Kapadia (Dimple Kapadia’s youngest sister) committed suicide (overdose of drugs or international flesh trade involving Hindujas) under mysterious circumstances in London. Dimple’s other sister, Simple died of cancer on 10 November 2009.

2 May 2003: Tamil film producer G Venkateswaran (56), GV, director Mani Ratnam’s brother, hanged himself from a ceiling fan in Chennai. Mounting high-interest debts in business were the cause.

29 July 2004: Model/TV actor Nafisa Joseph (25), niece of actor Sharmila Tagore, hanged herself in Mumbai. She took this step as her forthcoming marriage was called off.

20 January 2005: Actor Parveen Babi (55) committed suicide or it was said that the cause of death appeared to be complications from diabetes and she died in sleep in Mumbai. The police ruled out any foul play.

8 February 2006: Model/TV actor Kuljeet Randhawa (30), friend of Nafisa Joseph, hanged herself in Mumbai. She stated she couldn’t cope with pressures in life as a reason for ending her life.

22 April 2006: Gitanjali, second wife of actor Navin Nischol committed suicide by hanging from ceiling fan in Mumbai. Navin and his brother Pravin were arrested but were later acquitted from charges of abetting her suicide.

30 May 2009: Monica Chaudhary-Dutt (50), daughter of ghazal singer Chitra Singh from her first marriage, committed suicide by hanging from ceiling fan in Mumbai. On 28 July 1990 Jagjit Singh and Chitra had lost their only son Vivek Singh in road accident in Mumbai.