Star’s death sparks conspiracy frenzy
INDIA: The death of Bollywood superstar Sridevi Kapoor has left India consumed by mourning and seeking answers, some more fanciful than others.
Kapoor, known simply as Sridevi, was a national treasure, the star of more than 300 films since age 4. She died suddenly last weekend during a visit to Dubai for her nephew’s wedding, aged 54.
Initial reports that she had suffered a heart attack proved to be speculation, setting a pattern for what has followed.
When Dubai police confirmed on Tuesday that the true cause of death was accidental drowning in a hotel bath, it prompted a frenzy of gossip and rumour that has yet to die down.
The actress’s personal life has been raked over, along with her history of dieting and reports of plastic surgery. Her husband was questioned by Dubai police for several hours but his release, cleared of any suspicion of blame, barely merited a mention.
Broadcasters in India cleared their schedules to debate the ‘‘Bathtub of Death’’, as one station described it. A fraud case involving a diamond magnate and allegations of his political ties was bumped, and in its place reporters were shown cramming themselves into tiny bathtubs to demonstrate how difficult it is to drown in one.
Appeals to respect the family’s grief have gone unheeded, and even the wildest conspiracy theories have been scraped off Twitter and broadcast, unabashed and unverified, under the source ‘‘social media’’. One sought to link the death to an illegal alcohol racket involving other members of the Bollywood A-list and the cryptocurrency bitcoin.
Even when Dubai authorities confirmed yesterday that the investigation was closed and Kapoor’s body would be returned to Mumbai for cremation within hours, speculation was not dampened. The opposition Aam Aadmi Party in the northeastern state of Nagaland has even suggested a dark political motive behind the actress’s death, implicating the highest echelons of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.