Actress Vidya Balan has called out the open criticism of Rhea Chakraborty in connection to Sushant Singh Rajput’s demise, saying it is inapt that the tragedy has been turned into a “media circus”. Chakraborty and her family has been accused of provoking Rajput’s suicide and embezzlement of money by the late actor’s family in an FIR lodged in Patna. The case is now being probed by the CBI. The media coverage around Rajput, who was found dead in his Bandra apartment on 14 June’20 at the age of 34, has been condemned by many on social media calling it ruthless and deeply intruding . Chakraborty, in an interview, had said she was being targeted in the case, calling the media scanning of her relationship with the actor a “witch hunt”.
South India actress Lakshmi Manchu came out in support of Rhea and asserted that media had made a monster out of Chakraborty and asked them to refrain from “being evil and cruel” towards her. “I have complete trust in the judiciary system and all the agencies that are involved in bringing justice to Sushant. But until then can we restrain ourselves from being evil and cruel and lynching of person and her entire family without knowing the facts,” Manchu wrote on Twitter.
Responding to Manchu, Balan posted a statement and said that the coverage into late actor’ death is unfortunate. “It is so unfortunate that the tragic and untimely death of a beloved young star Sushant Singh Rajput has become a media circus. In the same breath, as a woman, my heart breaks at the vilification of Rhea Chakraborty. Isn’t it supposed to be ‘innocent until proven guilty’, or is it now ‘guilty until proven innocent’!?” Vidya wrote on Twitter.
Shakuntala Devi actress further urged people to let the law decide and refrain from passing judgements. “Let’s show some respect for the constitutional rights of a citizen and let the law take its due course,” Balan further added.
@LakshmiManchu pic.twitter.com/GnjPpsyoaq
— vidya balan (@vidya_balan) September 1, 2020
On Tuesday, Chakraborty’s parents, Indrajit and Sandhya, were called for interrogation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the case. This was the first time that Chakraborty’s parents were being questioned. Rhea was grilled for around 35 hours over the last four days while her brother, Showik, was quizzed for the last five days. The Supreme Court had last week validated the transfer of the FIR filed in Patna to the CBI.