Four days after actor Chitra’s death, Chennai police continue their probe, investigating sources have said. Speaking to TNM, a police officer who is part of the investigating team said, “We are speaking to both family members, people she was last in touch with, and her colleagues. We are yet to obtain her postmortem report. Further investigation is underway.” The police are also looking into her phone records.

Meanwhile, the Regional Divisional Officer (RDO) will begin their investigations from Monday, December 14. An RDO investigation is done when a married woman, who has been married for seven years or less, dies in a suspicious manner. 

Popular television actor Chitra was found dead at the hotel room she was staying in, with her husband Hemnath, during the early hours of December 9. The actor was best known as Mullai, a role she played on the television serial Pandian Stores, and had a huge fan following.

Police concluded Chitra’s death to have been suicide, while her friends and family members have alleged foul play. According to reports, relatives have claimed wounds on Chitra’s body and sought a full probe into her death.

Speculations are rife on social media and on news media, and one theory is that Chitra was pressured both by her mother and her husband. She was also under financial stress due to loans she had taken for her house and a recently purchased car. Police, however, have not confirmed these claims.

Just before her death, VJ Chitra, daughter of an ex-police officer, had asked her husband Hemnath to leave the room. According to the complaint filed by Chitra’s father Kamaraj, Chitra had asked Hemnath to bring something from the car, following which she locked her room. Initial reports that followed soon after the news of her death, however, said that Chitra had asked Hemnath to wait outside the room while she showered.

When Chitra did not open the room for a long time, Hemnath, with help from hotel staff opened it and reported the news of her death to the police.