Meher Khanna - Televisionpoint.com
The emotional stress of her relationship with a married co-star is being touted as the cause for the death of popular young TV star Vaishnavi. The actress was involved with her co-star Dev Anand, who was paired with her in the Tamil serial Manaivi. Even her family has held the actor responsible for her death, and named him in a complaint to the police as the cause for her suicide.

A production hand claimed that their relationship began on the sets of Manaivi, where Dev Anand played her hus band. However, the actor is allegedly married with a child. One of their co-stars said that though they appeared to be very friendly, no one knew for sure if they were involved.

The Chennai police said that they will be questioning Dev Anand based on the complaint from Vaishnavi's father. "Though her family members have named him as the reason for her death, no suicide note was found," the police added. Investigations are on and the police is trying to get details of her cell phone conversations just before her death.

The 20-year-old hanged herself at her residence in Anna Nagar, when the family was away. According to sources close to the family, Dev Anand did not even turn up on hearing the news of her demise. Vaishnavi had acted in serials like Anni, Muhurtham and Malargal besides Manaivi.

CJ.Bhaskar, Director of the serial Manaivi, which was aired on Sun TV, said, "Vaishnavi was a talented actress and such a funloving person. I am not able to digest her death. I don't really know why she took this extreme step. In fact, I was planning to cast her in my current serial Penn."

Hansraj Saxena, Vice-president, Programming of Sun TV, said that Vaishnavi joined the channel when she was in Class 10. "She started anchoring a weekly comedy programme called Kondattam which was a top rated one. She was very dedicated and was always accompanied by her mother. She was a well behaved, soft spoken girl. The channel sincerely feels sorry for her untimely demise. We have lost a talented anchor."

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