12 July,2011 06:23 AM IST | | Shiva Devnath
Cops say 31-year-old aspiring actress had tried to commit suicide several times in the past because she couldn't make it big; succeeded in umpteenth attempt
FED-UP of appearing only in crowd scenes, a 31-year-old struggling actress hung herself at her Goregaon residence and succeeded in her umpteenth suicide attempt.
Raut was desperateu00a0 for success in showbiz, and even got plastic surgery to better her chances
Bhubaneshwar native Vijaya Raut had come to the city to make it big in Bollywood three years ago, but the lack of breaks drove her to try to kill herself by slitting her wrist, jumping from a train and consuming sleeping tablets in the past. She hung herself using a dupatta at her MHADA flat at Ram Mandir Road, Goregaon (West).
"Raut had tried to kill herself many times in the past but she was unsuccessful. This time, however, she hung herself about three days ago in the flat where she has been staying alone for the past year," said Assistant
Police Inspector S Roman from the Goregaon police station. Roman added that they received a call from the residents of the Mhada building last morning about a strong stench that was being emitted from Raut's flat. Police officers reached the spot to find Raut's body hanging and brought it down.
Although they did not find a suicide note near the body, statements from Raut's friends and acquaintances have led them to suspect that her failure to make it big in Bollywood was the reason behind the suicide.
Divorce, surgery
The body has been sent to Bhagwati Hospital for postmortem. Raut's friends and neighbours told the police that she had divorced her husband in Bhubaneshwar before moving to Mumbai and had even got plastic surgery done on her hand to remove scars, in the hope of landing acting roles.
"After failing to get any role even after three years, Raut had tried to slit the wrist of the same hand but was saved by her friends.
She only got to be part of crowd scenes in some movies and had even worked as a stage dancer in some shows in Dubai. Of late, however, even those were drying up," said a police officer from the Goregaon police station, on condition of anonymity.
Raut's parents were informed by the police and they are enroute to the city from Bhubaneshwar.
Been there
>June 2010: Viveka Babajee, best known for featuring in some condom ads in the 1990s hung herself from the fan at her Bandra residence. Suspected cause: Depression
>February 2006: Kuljeet Randhawa, a former Gladrags model best known for her role in the Kohinoor series, hung herself at her apartment in Juhu.
Cause: In a suicide note, Kuljeet stated that she was ending her life as she was unable to cope with life's pressures.
>July 2004: Former Miss India Nafisa Joseph (25), who was a television actress and presenter for MTV, committed suicide in the city.
Suspected cause: She discovered that her fiance Gautam Khanduja was still married.
>April 2002: Monal Naval, a budding actress and sister of south Indian superstar Rishibala Naval aka Simran hung herself.
Cause: Unknown
