BOMBAY TIMES (January 10, 2020)

Soon after TV actor Kushal Punjabi’s suicide on December 26, 2019, there were reports in the media about trouble in his married life. Putting the rumours to rest, the late actor’s family — his parents Vijay and Priya Punjabi, wife Audrey Dolhen and sister Ritika — have now issued a joint statement.

It reads: “We have lost Kushal Punjabi, a beloved son, husband, father and brother on the 26th Dec 2019. It has been an emotional challenge for us all as a family to cope with his loss, as you can imagine and most importantly for his young son who is barely 4 years old. There have been multiple reports through various media that have been falsely reported as being given by members of Kushal’s family and we hereby confirm these as not true. Kushal was a very doting father who shared a close relationship with his son, and who was financially stable. Today, we stand together as one family in mourning. Kushal will always be remembered fondly as a much loved part of this family and will be missed by all of us. We stand by each other in our loss as a family and request you to please refrain from false speculations and reports on Kushal to allow his soul to rest in peace. While we do hope that this joint statement from us will put an end to any further speculation, we urge people and the media to please respect the family’s privacy, especially that of his young son and leave us to grieve (sic).”

Kushal had married Audrey in 2015, and their son, Kian, is close to four years old. The actor, who has been a part of several TV shows and films, was found hanging in his Pali Hill home.