Sushant Singh Rajput, a 34-year-old actor who deserved much more love, life, movies and praise, died of suicide yesterday. While we all were trying to sink in this unfortunate news, I came across the last pictures of the late actor which were frantically circulated on the social media and Whatsapp forwards.
This not only made me sad, but got me to thinking about where are we headed as human beings in this age of social media? Why is everything sensationalised when it comes to celebrities? Sushant’s death left everyone in a state of shock, and these pictures just added to the ache. Writer Shaheen Bhatt, who is also Alia Bhatt‘s sister, penned an important appeal to all after the news broke.
She took to her Instagram to share the post. Have a look:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CBar8pJl4cW/?utm_source=ig_embed
Maharashtra Cyber Police Department too launched a straight warning on Twitter to those who have been circulating or posting the last images of the actor’s on social media.
Check out the Twitter threads:
A disturbing trend has been observed on Social Media platforms by Maharashtra Cyber that pictures of deceased actor Shri. Sushant Singh Rajput are being circulated, which are disturbing and in bad taste. (1/n)
— Maharashtra Cyber (@MahaCyber1) June 14, 2020
Maharashtra Cyber exhorts and directs all netizens to refrain from circulating the aforesaid pictures. The pictures already circulated should be deleted henceforth. (3/n)
— Maharashtra Cyber (@MahaCyber1) June 14, 2020
The best we can do in these times is to abstain from and stop people from sharing such insensitive content on social media. It is important to give the mourners their space and time to get through the hard times.
Moreover, Sushant’s death has made suicide prevention and its awareness an important discussion. The Government of Maharashtra, BMC, and MPower Minds 1on1 have created a free helpline to support us at this difficult time. Please call 1800-120-820050 to speak to a mental health professional.