(Trigger warning: Mentions of suicide)
Celebrity fashion designer Prathyusha Garimella was found dead on the afternoon of 11 June at her studio in Hyderabad's Banjara Hills. Her father found her unconscious on a chair, with a suicide note in her hand.
Prathyusha, who lived in Hyderabad's posh locality of Jubilee Hills, had informed her father that she would be visiting a friend and would stay over at her studio in Banjara Hills. However, her father grew suspicious as she did not respond to his calls after leaving home the previous night.
The watchman of her building rang the doorbell to her studio several times, but as she didn't open the door, her father rushed to the spot. With the help of a few people in the building, he broke open the door only to find Prathyusha unconscious on a chair.
Police Suspect She Was Depressed
Her father, who immediately realised that the fashion designer was not breathing, also found a suicide note in her hand. The note read, "This is not my wished life…! I don't want to be a burden to my parents..! Everyday, I am crying. Sorry to my parents, and all my friends and well-wishers..! -Prathyusha Garimella."
In his complaint to the police, Prathyusha's father said that he rushed to the boutique on 11 June after he was alerted by the watchmen that his daughter wasn't responding to the doorbell. He also requested the police to take the necessary action as per the law.
Meanwhile, the Banjara Hills Police suspects that the designer died by suicide due to depression and has filed a case of suspicious and unnatural death.
The police combed through her house in Film Nagar, gathered evidence related to the case, and also reportedly found a bottle of carbon monoxide, which is likely to have been used by Pratyusha to end her life. As of now, the body has been moved to Osmania General Hospital for autopsy.
Prathyusha was a fashion designer who did her studies in the US. She began her career in Hyderabad in 2013, with the opening of her own label and clothing line. Her clientele included several Tollywood and Bollywood film stars like Madhuri Dixit, Neha Dhupia, Juhi Chawla, Keerthy Suresh, Jacqueline Fernandez, Shriya Saran, Bhumi Pednekar, and Upasana Konidela.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)