No one who had met Gladrags Megamodel Rakhee Choudhari even once would have guessed she was suicidal. The 23-year-old’s life came to a tragic end last week when her sister and brother-in-law found her decomposed body hanging from the ceiling fan of her Andheri residence in Mumbai on Saturday, three days after the death. A post-mortem has confirmed the cause of death as asphyxia due to hanging. ‘‘It is a clear case of suicide,’’ DCP Shashikant Shinde said. Police said that Choudhari’s sister Ruchi found the door of the flat locked from inside. It had to be opened with a duplicate key, indicating that she was alone at home at the time of her death. Choudhari’s Bangalore-based parents were immediately informed and she was cremated on Sunday morning.What drove the model to suicide is not clear. While some reports said she suffered from a thyroid problem, police suspect the girl was under stress after her parents’ divorce.Choudhari came to Mumbai from Bangalore in March to participate in the Gladrags Megamodel contest. Replying to a query from the jury, she had said that life was to be lived to the fullest and that she wasn’t afraid of treading on the wild side, a comment that won her applause.A few months after the contest, the winning girl’s presence was being felt in the modelling industry. A few assignments under her belt, Rakhee travelled to South Africa and Germany, where she stood fourth in the Miss Intercontinental contest. She had also finished shooting for a music video with fellow model Kushal Punjabi, who described her as a ‘‘bundle of fun’’. ‘‘None of us saw it coming,’’ he said.Choudhari and Punjabi were to leave for another shoot in Sri Lanka. ‘‘She had spoken to Maureen Wadia (Gladrags editor) about her parents’ divorce and had told her that she was suffering from stress. Maureen cheered her on and suggested she get ready for the Miss Tourism contest,’’ said Punjabi.According to him, Choudhari had put on a bit of weight but not too much to drive her to suicide. ‘‘She wasn’t fat at all, in fact she looked lovely with the additional weight,’’ he said.Punjabi is seconded by another friend, flight attendant Neville Madon: ‘‘She had put on just a bit of weight, but that was no reason to commit suicide. She seemed a balanced person.’’Wadia said Choudhari was bogged down by the family separation. ‘‘It wasn’t thyroid at all. I had sent her to four doctors and they all said she was fine. They had said it was psychological, and it pointed at her parents,’’ she said, adding that Choudhari felt better with placebos of calcium and vitamins.‘‘It was all in her mind. Her father had left the house and Rakhee was supporting her mother and younger brother. I suppose all this was too much for her young shoulders.’’Wadia also said the model was ‘‘a hell of an extrovert’’. ‘‘She was so outgoing I had to tell her to be careful so that people don’t take advantage of her,’’ she said. Wadia spoke to her on Tuesday afternoon, telling her to participate in the Miss Tourism contest in Malaysia on December 20. Choudhari said she was determined to lose some weight before that but Wadia asked her to have a good time there. Tuesday evening, Choudhari dropped her passport at the office. On Wednesday afternoon, the secretary called her to confirm the dates. In the evening, Choudhari hanged herself to death. ‘‘Every time I asked her how she was, she would reply ‘How do I look?’ I guess looks are deceptive,’’ Wadia said.
