The Maharashtra Police took to Twitter to urge people to refrain from sharing disturbing pictures of Sushant Singh Rajput, who died of suicide on Sunday. In a series of tweets, the state police said that some of the visuals being circulated online were 'disturbing and in bad taste'.
"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 (sic)," one of the posts read.
Warning of legal action, Maharashtra police tweeted: It is emphasised that circulation of such pictures is against legal guidelines and court directions, and are liable to invite legal action.
On Sunday, many social media users also urged others to stop circulating photos and videos of the actor's body and show dignity in death. Actress-politician Urmila Matondkar also called for empathy. She tweeted: "Deeply disturbing n disappointing to see d irresponsible n insensitive projection of d pics n gory details of #sushantsinghrajpoot Empathy n Compassion towards serious public mental issue #sucide is needed not this sensational reporting. Let's leave some dignity in death (sic)".
The death of Sushant Singh, 34, has left Bollywood and the country in shock. A statement released by Sushant Singh Rajput's team said: "It pains us to share that Sushant Singh Rajput is no longer with us. We request his fans to keep him in their thoughts and celebrate his life, and his work like they have done so far. We request media to help us maintain privacy at this moment of grief."
He was found hanging in his Bandra home on Sunday morning. The actor made his Bollywood debut with Abhishek Kapoor’s Kai Po Che, which was adapted from Chetan Bhagat’s The Three Mistakes of My Life. Before his foray in films, he had acted in television serials, most notably in Pavitra Rishta.
His last film was Nitesh Tiwari’s Chhichhore, in which he acted alongside Shraddha Kapoor.