‘I thought the only way to end it was by ending my life’; Sandhya Chakraborty opens up on Rhea’s return from prison

Rhea Chakraborty was finally granted bail as she walked out of Byculla prison this Wednesday.

In an interview with TOI, Sandhya Chakraborty, Rhea’s mother, emotionally spoke on the crucial time her daughter and family had endured.

“Rhea’s father was on the verge of collapse yesterday. What she has gone through… how will she heal from this? But she is a fighter and she must be strong,” her mother started off the telephonic.

Rhea’s friends had gone to pick her up after she had been let out of jail and brought her home to Santacruz. Mother Sandhya wished for her daughter to sit back and recover from all the ‘slander’ and ‘lynching’ she had to endure by an entire country.

“I will have to put her on therapy to help her get over this trauma and reclaim her life. While it’s a relief she’s out of prison, it’s crazy it’s still not over. My son is still behind bars and I’m paranoid about what tomorrow will bring,” Sandhya said.

Recounting how a neighbour’s recent claims of being informed by an eyewitness about Sushant Singh Rajput and Rhea being seen together on June 13 were “baseless” and an attempt to ride the tide. “We know this neighbour. She was a huge fan of Sushant’s who came over to our place to meet him once. Why she’d say something like this without proof is beyond me. One just has to look at Sushant or Rhea’s cellular location to know this whole thing is just another lie,” she said.

Talking about how her husband Indrajit Chakraborty was mobbed by the media she continued, “The last time my husband stepped out to meet the ED, he was hounded on his way back. And he’s not the kind to fight back. We panic every time the doorbell rings. We don’t know who it might be. There have been instances of reporters posing as CBI or as a resident of the building to come into our premises. We’ve installed CCTVs outside our door to secure ourselves.“

Sandhya also goes on to speak about her fear and Showik still being locked up. “I can’t sleep on the bed anymore when my children are suffering in jail. I can’t eat. I wake up in the middle of the night, gripped by a fear of the next thing that could go wrong. My family’s not just been pushed to a corner, it’s been destroyed. At one point I thought the only way to end it was by ending my life. I’m not this kind of a person, you know. I’ve sought therapy for myself. Now when these feelings appear, I keep reminding myself I need to be there for my children. They’re going through far worse.“

“We’re proud of our daughter. She’s maintained her poise and dignity even as she was pushed around, called names and landed with scratches on her face on way to the ED office. Yet, even after she came home today, she looked at us and said: ‘Why do you look sad, we have to be strong and fight this’,” the mother said. Then added, “But who are we fighting? Someone had to be arrested to satisfy the public, and Rhea paid the price. For loving and taking care of someone who she lost and then dragged through town for it.”