On 20th August, the first step towards justice was taken as the apex court handed over the court to the Central Bureau of Investigation. Since the day Sushant died, every news channel has been utilizing their Sherlock Holmes skills trying to unfold the mystery of the actor’s death and people have been questioning the investigation by Mumbai police after Sushant’s father filled an FIR in Bihar accusing Sushant’s alleged partner Rhea Chakraborty of abetment to suicide.
After the FIR was filed TV debates, social media discussions, and even the family WhatsApp group stopped talking about Bollywood nepotism and injustice done towards Sushant and focused on how a 28-year-old woman might have influenced Sushant which pushed him to suicide.
Rhea Chakraborty became the national villain! The social media found a new person to hate and TV channels did not want to miss the trend of social media which could lead them to an all-time TRP high. So, taking the opportunity or better to say ' aapda mein awsar’ media started concocting theories related to Rhea Chakraborty and how her Bengali background, her contacts with the famous director, or her ‘black magic’ might have taken Sushant’s life.
The charges are damning, serious and in terms of public perception impact – perhaps irreversible. We don’t know yet if Rhea is guilty of the serious allegations being levelled at her by the family – she “drugged him” under the pretext of treating him for depression, she swindled him and siphoned off his money before walking out on him. All of these charges need to be investigated thoroughly to see if they build up to a case for abetment of suicide. But that is the role of investigative agencies, not the media trials on the internet or on television.
She is yet to be tried in a court of law. The CBI is investigating the Bihar police FIR against her. But she is as good as burnt at the stake.
Her phone records have been accessed and have been brought in the public domain that she called her brother (a co-accused in the FIR) 800 times in 365 days acquiring a sinister ring. Stories on how quick she was to move in with Rajput very soon into the relationship, doggedly built the narrative of the opportunistic “gold-digger”. Leaks to the media which talk about her spending habits and her free use of Rajput’s credit cards indict her further.
Anything that goes against this narrative, is dismissed as “fake” or “agenda”. For instance, Rajput’s reported battle with clinical depression/bipolar disorder or that a 34-year-old man would have agency of his own in his life decisions.
The catcalling doesn’t stop here! ED investigated Rhea for the alleged money laundering case and cleared her. The agency did not find any transaction as mentioned in the FIR filed by Sushant’s father but being a woman (whom people loved to watch before SSR death case) who was still struggling to make a mark in the industry, the WhatsApp and Twitter trials found her guilty, declared her gold-digger and wanted serious punishment for her.
Supporting this national outcry, channels showed hypothetical theories using their non- practical investigative journalism and declared that Rhea performed black magic on SSR which proves the abetment to suicide. Some news channels even lambasted Rhea and Sushant’s friend Sidharth Pithani showing visuals, trying to prove that both even switched Sushant’s dead body!
Media went to a new low when the brand ‘Love, Sex or Dhokha’ with Sushant and Rhea’s picture flashed every 10 seconds in a news channel putting Rhea in a position which she might have never imagined when she and Sushant started dating each other.
But it is not only the channels who made Rhea the convict of Sushant’s case but it is those people who watched their reports and supported them, giving them a massive reach on social media and making them the number 1 channel.
Neither the media nor the people who were discussing the importance of mental health, debating about what might have pushed Sushant to depression (alleged) took a moment and thought once about the mental pressure they have been putting into a woman who for what we know was Sushant’s love of life, who lived with actor and most important is yet to be proven guilty!
Some might say that the channel has got to do the job and supporting national sentiment is one of them. So did the Bihar DGP, Gupteshwar Pandey justify his job saying that Rhea Chakraborty does not have any ‘Aukat’ (stature) to comment on the Chief Minister? “She does not have the right to comment as she is accused in the case.”
The Bihar DGP later apologised for his remarks, but the damage was done, and Twitter went berserk to show Rhea her ‘stature’. From filthy comments to character assassination, kidnapping, rape threats, mental torture, and loss of career, that’s the price you pay when you are yet to be proven guilty by the honourable court but have been charged under the internet and television media trials.
Rhea Chakraborty, if proven guilty must be punished by the court but accusing her, destroying her career, catcalling against her, torturing her might lead her to google search about mental health the way Sushant did a few hours before his death.
Consistent condescending attacks on her, sharing her morphed pictures in your Whatsapp group will not bring justice to Sushant Singh Rajput but waiting for the truth to be revealed by the CBI and respecting the Court’s judgment will. As a nation and as SSR fans, if we can’t respect the woman whom Sushant chose to be the love of his life then at least we can wait for the justice to be done so Sushant can Rest In Peace!
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