Revisiting the Loss of Our Beloved 90s Actor, Divya Bharati

Over two decades after actor Divya Bharati's death, we came across an article that was written at the time of her passing by Troy Ribeiro in Stardust magazine. Ribeiro was one of the first people who received the news of her death, and was present at the hospital on April 5, 1993. Bharti, who was all of 19, fell from her Mumbai apartment's balcony to her death. Though, even now, there is little clarity on what really happened moments before her death, as conspiracy theories range from murder to accident and suicide, the article by Ribeiro puts the actor's life, and more importantly her death, into perspective.

In the write-up, the journalist also explains what happened according to eyewitnesses -- Neeta Lulla and her husband Dr Shyam Lulla. Bharti's father and brother, who were also present at the hospital, were apparently distraught, but her mother seemed more composed, according to the article.

You can read excerpts here:

"It was around 1.30am, there were only a handful of people present in the hospital. Probably nobody heard of the tragedy till then. Divya's mortal remains were placed on the trolley in the casualty ward. Her father, Mr. Bharti, was right next to her. He had taken the tragedy real bad. He was simply uncontrollable. 'They have killed my daughter. Burn down everything. I don't want anything, just give me back Divya,' he kept sobbing like a child. Divya's brother Kunal seemed equally shattered. Like a pillar of strength, he stood by his father, trying to console him. Later, when he just couldn't control his tears anymore he burst out, 'I shouldn't have left my loving sister behind. I was with her till ten minutes before she could jump down. She was very depressed, she told me that. But I didn't know she would do such a thing. I don't want anything. I just want my sister back. She was just nineteen. Is that the age to die?' He kept repeating. He was then taken aside by his maid-servant."

Talking about her husband, producer Sajid Nadiadwala, Ribeiro wrote, "He literally froze for a moment and then fell on the ground with foam oozing out of his mouth. 'At first we thought he too had consumed poison and that this was some kind of a suicide pact between the husband and wife,' revealed a doctor on duty. It was only when they tried to resuscitate him, Sajid started thumping violently. That the doctors realized it was a case of a heart attack. Sajid was immediately shifted to the ICCU (Intensive Cardiac Care Unit) of the hospital. Apparently, he too had been suffering from hypertension and high blood pressure. When he regained consciousness for a while, he told the doctors, 'My wife Divya is down there. They say she is dead.'"

"Meanwhile on the ground floor, the situation was same as before. Divya's father was still hysterical. 'By now, he was blaming his wife for Divya's action. Sajid's parents, sister and his friends had also arrived. They were obviously tensed about Sajid's condition."

"Apparently, Divya's mother could not be traced till three in the morning. At around 3.45am, she arrived at the hospital still ignorant of the fact that she had lost her only daughter. Kunal and Mr Bharati did turn slightly violent when they saw her. Quite strangely, they both blamed her for what had happened. But Divya's mother did not say a word. She just went towards the trolley, lifted the veil that covered Divya's face, placed her head on Divya's chest, and after sometime, she walked out of the hospital. She returned later accompanied by Divya's uncle."

"Neeta's version at the police station states,'I was not sure whether Divya had jumped down or whether she had slipped accidentally because the sequence of events was in split second.' At the time of filing in this article, the police had still not recorded Divya's maid's statement for reasons best known to them. But the strangest version came from Sajid's father who told the police that Divya and Sajid were not married. 'In fact, they were supposed to get' married after three months,' he revealed."

"Even the police haven't been able to establish anything as yet. On one hand, the Assistant Commissioner of Police Arup Patnaik doesn't rule out any possibilities, 'It could be a case of accident, suicide or murder. We're still invertigating,' he says. And on the other hand, the Comissioner of Police, AS Samra insists that it was an accident. 'However, the police is still following the murder theory,' he reveals."