Bollywood actress vindicated over boyfriend's death after media hounding

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - NEW DELHI — Bollywood actress Rhea Chakraborty was called "a gold digger" and "a murderer". She was slut-shamed and spent 27 days in prison after a hate-filled vicious media campaign in 2020 alleged she had been involved in the death of her actor boyfriend Sushant Singh Rajput.

Now, India's federal investigators have told a court that Rajput, a rising star in India's popular Hindi film industry, died by suicide and that neither Chakraborty nor her family had a role in his death.

In a statement shared with the BBC, senior lawyer Satish Maneshinde, who fought Chakraborty's case, said the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had "thoroughly investigated every aspect of the case from all angles and closed it".

The findings have been presented in a special court in Mumbai, which will now decide whether to close the case or to order further investigation.

Maneshinde said Chakraborty went through "untold miseries" and was jailed "for no fault of hers".

"The false narrative in the social media and electronic media was totally uncalled for," he said, calling on media bosses to "reflect upon what they did".

"Innocent people were hounded and paraded before the media and investigative authorities. I hope this does not repeat in any case."

Feminist lawyer Payal Chawla, meanwhile, described the "misogynistic narrative surrounding Chakraborty" as "deeply troubling" and said the case "should serve as a cautionary reminder of the perils of being judgmental".

Chakraborty herself has offered no comment since news of CBI wanting to close the case broke at the weekend. On Monday, she was seen visiting a temple along with her brother and father — who were also named in a police complaint filed over Rajput's death.

Perhaps the only sign that the family feel vindicated comes from her brother Showik — who spent three months in prison before being freed on bail. He shared a photo with Rhea and the caption "Satyamev Jayate" — Sanskrit for "truth alone prevails".

Rajput was found dead in his Mumbai apartment on 14 June 2020. Mumbai police said the 34-year-old had mental health issues, for which he was under treatment, and appeared to have taken his own life.

Chakraborty, who had been dating Rajput for a year and was living with him, had gone to live with her parents a few days before his death.

"Still struggling to face my emotions... an irreparable numbness in my heart... I will never come to terms with you not being here anymore," she later wrote on social media about her grief.

But within weeks, the actress found herself at the center of a firestorm after Rajput's father lodged a police complaint, accusing Chakraborty of stealing his son's money and contributing to his suicide. He also denied that his son had any mental health issues.

The Rajput family has not commented on the latest developments regarding his death.

Chakraborty, who consistently denied all the allegations against her, appealed to the government to order a fair probe into the death.

However, the tragedy — which came in the midst of a lockdown while India was struggling with the coronavirus pandemic — became the biggest prime-time story for a nation glued to their television sets.

And Chakraborty became the subject of misogynistic abuse, with trolls calling her a "witch", a "fortune huntress", a "mafia moll" and "sex bait to trap rich men". She received rape and death threats.

Some of India's most high-profile television hosts dedicated their entire shows to discussing the case, describing her as a "manipulative" woman who "performed black magic" and "drove Sushant to suicide".

A video that went viral at the time showed a prominent news anchor hysterically gesticulating and accusing Chakraborty of being "a druggie". Another channel had a female anchor walk in on the live set, claiming she had "a bagful of documents" that could prove the actress's guilt.

The vicious hate campaign continued until Chakraborty was arrested three months after Rajput's death.

She was released a month later and has since tried her hand at motivational speaking and has now reinvented herself as a businesswoman who has launched a clothing line and her own podcast with celebrity interviews. She is also doing a reality TV show.

Chakraborty has also spoken about her ordeal, including how the name-calling and character assassination cost her work and how her family were also hounded.

"I tried contacting people in the [Hindi film] industry, asking for roles, any roles. But then I realised that people won't cast you because of all that had happened," she told Humans of Bombay last year.

"I was very angry for a long time. But it gave me acidity and I suffered from gut issues. So, it became important for me to forgive," she said, adding " I have not forgiven everyone. Some people are on my hit list.

It is not clear what action she is contemplating against those who vilified her, but many are now suggesting on social media that she sue them for damages.

While neither the actress nor her lawyer has yet said what they intend to do, columnist Namita Bhandare points out that seeking compensation in India, with its overburdened judiciary and millions of pending court cases, is anything but easy.

"A defamation case can go on for a decade and she would possibly get an apology at the end of it. So would she even bother to do that?"

According to Ms Bhandare, Chakraborty "became expendable in the pursuit of a juicy story" since she "was not a big name and had no powerful people backing her in the film industry".

What happened, the columnist continued, "was in keeping with the traditional Indian thinking" to blame the female partner left behind, and also highlighted the "dark side of social media, which tends to find a villain and then sets about demolishing their reputation".

Some of the videos of prominent news anchors making slanderous comments against Chakraborty have now resurfaced, and are being shared extensively on social media. Many people, including some of the actress's Bollywood colleagues, are demanding that the presenters apologize to her.

"You went on a witch-hunt. You caused deep anguish and harassment just for TRPs [a metric used to gauge advertising reach]. Apologise. That's the very least you can do," Bollywood actress Dia Mirza said on Instagram.

Journalist Rohini Singh named specific TV channels and asked if they would apologize to Chakraborty.

"If they have any shame, any shred of human decency they should issue a groveling apology for slandering her, telling outrageous lies, getting her imprisoned only because they were determined to run an agenda," she posted on X.

The issue was also raised in parliament on Tuesday. Journalist-turned-MP Sagarika Ghosh questioned the character assassination Chakraborty was subjected to.

"News channels ran motivated campaigns against her. Today she's proven innocent. But who will give those years back to her when she endured such humiliation at the hand of media?" she asked. — BBC