Kushal Punjabi’s Family Issues Statement; Dismisses Rumours

Punjabi died by suicide at his Mumbai home on 26 December.

The parents and wife of late actor Kushal Punjabi have issued a statement in the wake of rumours surrounding his death. The Ishq Mein Marjawan actor died by suicide on 26 December. According to the Mumbai police, he was found hanging from the fan at his Pali Hill residence and was rushed to Bhabha Hospital, but was declared dead on arrival.

The family dismissed media reports that speculated depression and financial instability led 37-year-old Punjabi to take his own life. According to SpotBoyE, the statement, made on behalf of Audrey Dolhen, Vijay Punjabi, Priya Punjabi and Ritika Punjabi, read:

“It has been an emotional challenge for us all as a family to cope with his loss, as you can imagine and most importantly for his young son who is barely four years old.There have been multiple reports through various media that have been falsely reported as being given by members of Kushal’s family and we hereby confirm these as not true. Kushal was a very doting father who shared a close relationship with his son, and who was financially stable. Today, we stand together as one family in mourning.”

“Kushal will always be remembered fondly as a much loved part of this family and will be missed by all of us. We stand by each other in our loss as a family and request you to please refrain from false speculations and reports on Kushal to allow his soul to rest in peace. While we do hope that this joint statement from us will put an end to any further speculation, we urge people and the media to please respect the family’s privacy, especially that of his young son and leave us to grieve.”

Punjabi is survived by his four-year-old son Kian and wife Audrey Dolhen, who live in France. Police have confirmed to The Quint that they found a one-and-a-half page suicide note in his home, wherein he wrote, “Nobody should be blamed for my death”. Kushal has also written in the note, “Divide 50 percent of my assets equally among my parents, sister and 50 percent should be given to my three-year-old son.” The actor’s demise was mourned by several members of the film and television industry, including John Abraham, Karanvir Bohra, Sushant Singh, Chetan Hansraj and and model Diandra Soares.

(With inputs from SpotboyE)