Autopsy report of Sushant Singh Rajput reveals actor died of asphyxiation due to hanging

Mumbai, June 15: Doctors at Dr RN Cooper Municipal General Hospital, Mumbai conducted postmortem on the body of actor Sushant Singh Rajput who was committed suicide at his Mumbai residence yesterday. The preliminary postmortem report of Sushant Singh Rajput has now revealed that the cause of the actor's death was asphyxia due to hanging.

His sudden demise has sent shockwaves rippling through the Hindi film industry and elsewhere with many asking just that one question -- why. He was 34.

Rajput, who made the storybook transition from Patna boy to television and then the starry lights of the Hindi film industry, was the youngest of five siblings and is survived by his father and four sisters.

"His body was found hanging at his Bandra residence today. We are investigating," Manoj Sharma, additional commissioner of police, Western Region, told PTI.

An accidental death report will be registered on the basis of preliminary information sources from the Bandra Police said.

No note was found from the spot, they said. Police sources also said they did not find any foul play in their initial investigation.

Rajput's last screen appearance was Nitesh Tiwari's 2019 film "Chhichhore", where he played the role of a father who conveys a message of hope and affirmation to his son who has attempted to kill himself.

And his last social media post, dedicated to his late mother who died in 2002 when he was a young teen, was on June 3, a foretelling perhaps on what to come. "Blurred past evaporating from teardrops. Unending dreams carving an arc of smile. "And a fleeting life, negotiating between the two," he wrote on Instagram post with a black and white photograph of his mother.

Rajput's sudden death comes days after his former manager, 28-year-old Disha Salian, ended her life by jumping from a high rise building on June 9. "It's such devastating news. My deepest condolences to Disha's family and friends. May your soul rest in peace," he had said, mourning her death.

Back home in Patna, as crowds gathered outside Rajput's father's home, Laxmi, the caretaker, told mediapersons that the actor's eldest sister who lives in Chandigarh would be flying in to accompany their father to Mumbai.

"The last rites will be performed after his father and other family members arrive in Mumbai from Patna tomorrow," his spokesperson said. As news of the tragic death spread and condolences poured in, Prime Minister Narendra Modi described him as a bright young actor gone too soon. "He excelled on TV and in films.

His rise in the world of entertainment inspired many and he leaves behind several memorable performances.

An engineering student, Rajput left his course at the Delhi Technological University in the early 2000s to enroll in choreographer Shiamak Davar's dance classes and later joined acting guru Barry John's classes. He also performed as a background dancer in the song "Dhoom again" with Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in the 2006 film "Dhoom 2". But it was the small screen that gave the "outsider" his breakout role as the mild-mannered Manav in the Ekta Kapoor-produced soap opera "Pavitra Rishta" in 2009. He left the show in 2011 and two years later made his film debut with "Kai Po Che!".

He also starred in films such as "Shuddh Desi Romance", "Raabta", "Kedarnath" and "Sonchiriya". But his most prominent role came as cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni's in the 2007 biopic, "MS Dhoni: The Untold Story".

Rajput's sudden death came as another shock for the film fraternity, still recovering from the deaths of Irrfan Khan, Rishi Kapoor and Basu Chatterjee.

For many, Rajput's death was a reminder of the fragility of life and the importance to be sensitive, empathetic and available to those who might be suffering silently.