Sensational Images, Deplorable Headlines: How News Channels Reported Sushant Singh Rajput's Death

The sudden demise of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput on Sunday, June 14, triggered massive shock waves across the country. People from the Bollywood fraternity, politicians and the young actor's fans condemned the death and called it a great loss to the industry.

While the country and Sushant Singh's family was trying to cope with the irreparable loss, some news channels stooped to an all-time low while reporting the death of the late actor.

Resorting to sensational headlines, leaking sensitive details of his death, like the colour of the cloth around his neck, and questioning his relatives for a byte, media houses touched new levels of insensitivity and displayed sheer lack of humanity and journalistic ethics.

Some channels shocking and disturbingly 'recreated' the actor's death by suicide.

The news of the actor's death came out on Sunday afternoon and also brought to light the insensitive urge of non-stop coverage on his life and death.

Some reporters on Zee News went on to ask: "Filmon ka Dhoni asal zindagi mein out kaise" (How can the reel life Dhoni got out in real life). Others on Aaj Tak questioned: "Sushant zindagi ki pitch par hit-wicket kaise ho gaye" (how did Sushant get 'hit-wicket' on life's pitch).

While the nation was mourning the talented actor's death, channels resorted to analysing his recent Instagram posts to "find out" the reason behind his alleged suicide.

Aaj Tak stooped down to using melodramatic music and derogatory tag-lines such as 'Sushant itne ashant kaise' (how come Sushant was so restless). The same channel was also one of the first ones to reach Singh's residence in Patna, without taking into consideration the family's condition, and the reporter kept insisting to get a comment from his father, who was engulfed by grief.

ABP News reporters continued to keep an eye outside the room where the actor's father fell unconscious and surrounded his relatives who could not believe that Sushant was no more.

"Kyun kia?" (why did he do it?) "Kya vajah thi?'' (What was the reason?), were the constant questions flashing on India TV, Zee News.

One of the headlines on Zee News read, "Patna ka Sushant Mumbai mein fail kyun?''. (Why did Patna's Sushant fail in Mumbai).

A few hours later, using more sensational headlines had become a competition for news channels. TV9 Bharatvarsh kept flashing its 'BREAKING NEWS', which showed one of Rajput's relatives saying that he could not have committed suicide and that it was a murder and should be investigated.

News Nation, went a step ahead and showed an image of the actor lying dead on his bed. This picture was later circulated on WhatsApp and the channel was called out for its despicable reporting.

From his life in Bihar to romantic relationships, news channels left nothing unexplored to draw out conclusions to his death. "Love's khichdi was being cooked here," read one of the headlines.

English news channels were less sensational, however, they also committed some grave mistakes. Many discussed the need for mental health but kept showing images of celebrities who died by suicide and also connected the actor's death to his ex-manager's demise a few days ago.

Many of the actor's friends and colleagues were allowed to comment on Sushant's death and claim that they knew how the actor was disturbed and under depression.

Several people and social media users called out media houses for their heartless and inconsiderate coverage of the young Bollywood actor's death.

Also Read: From Shah Rukh Khan To Ravi Shankar Prasad, Celebs, Politicians Mourn Actor Sushant Singh Rajput's Death