Prathyusha

Pratyusha was born in Bhongir of present-day Telangana into a middle-class family. Her mother, Mrs. Sarojini Devi, is a government school teacher. Her brother is Praneet Chandra (also known as Krishna Chandra).

Pratyusha was schooled at Santosh Vidhya Niketan, Bhuvanagiri, Prakash Public School, Miryalaguda and later at St. Anns High School, Tarnaka, Hyderabad.

Pratyusha completed her intermediate from Gouthami Residential Academy, S.R.Nagar and graduation in Bachelor of Hotel Management at Banjara Hills and JB Institute of Hotel Management.

Pratyusha participated in Television Star 2000 Contest and was crowned Ms. Lovely Smile. Her success in the contest paved way to enter the film world. She had signed for a Kannada film before she died.

Pratyusha's final release was the delayed 2004 Sathyaraj film Sound Party, for which she received positive reviews.^[1]

Prathyusha died on 23 February 2002 after allegedly attempting suicide by consuming poison along with her friend Siddharth, reportedly because their marriage proposal was rejected by family members. Some reports suggest it was a murder. Pratyusha died while undergoing treatment at Care Hospital, while Siddartha recovered. The case was widely discussed in the media and attracted public attention as some leaders of then ruling party were involved in this case. the suspicion of murder arose on Siddhartha, and after a forensic expert opined that the cause of her death was 'asphyxia due to manual strangulation'.^[2] The report was referred to Professor T D Dogra, an eminent forensic expert and Head of Forensic Division, at All India Institute of Medical Sciences New Delhi.^[3] The doctor's report was then found to be faulty.^[4] In 2004, Siddhartha was sentenced to five years' imprisonment^[5] and to pay a fine of ₹6,000 as he was found guilty of attempting suicide and abetting Pratyusha's suicide.^[6]

After her death, her mother started a charity in her name.^[7]

• Official website
• Prathyusha at IMDb