TV Channels Air Sunanda Pushkar's Corpse Images, Cause Outrage on Social Media

Social media reacted with outrage after several media channels released images of Sunanda Pushkar's dead body from the crime scene.

After doctors from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on Tuesday claimed Sunanda Pushkar, the wife of former Union minister Shashi Tharoor died of poisoning, news channels began airing pictures of her dead body.

Pictures of the deceased 49-year old clicked inside a five-star hotel room in New Delhi, was available exclusively with Headlines Today and showed her lying on the bed with injury marks on her neck and wrist.

She was found dead in the hotel room on January 17, 2013, a day after the couple checked-in because their house was allegedly getting painted. 

Sunanda Pushkar's dead body photos were reportedly leaked to the news agencies on Tuesday, however, there is no confirmation on the source of the pictures.

Social media users, however, reacted strongly to the 'insensitivity' displayed by the media. What seems to have miffed many is the fact that many news channels ran the story with a caption that read -- 'Exclusive - Sunanda Pushkar's Dead Body Photos'.

The outrage among the viewers was so strong that Rajdeep Sardesai, the consulting editor at the India Today group, even offered an apology.

In his blog, Sardesai wrote - " Yes, we are driven by a TRP culture and see a murder case involving the rich and famous as ideal fodder. Yes, this case must be thoroughly investigated. But are we conducting a media trial based on sensationalising facts?"

"Last night, I carried a video of the dead body with marks on it. We saw it as evidentiary value and, therefore, relevant to the case. On hindsight, in showing close ups of the body, we erred: could we not have just blurred the body pictures? I plead guilty. Sunanda deserves justice. She also deserves dignity, in death as in life."

On Twitter many reacted with anger and disgust in the way the image of Sunanda Pushkar's dead body was being flashed before the audience.

A Twitter user @vakeel_saheba said: "Now @IndiaToday posting Sunanda Pushkar's dead bodypics. These guys are sick :-|"

Another user Avinash ‏@avinashbhat01 tweeted: "Very same Liberal Media who demnded 'Privacy' for Sunanda Pushkar today beam gory pictures of Sunanda dead body?Isn that private? #Hypocrisy"

Similarly another social media user said: "Arnab Goswami says out of respect/privacy @timesnow wont relay pictures of Sunanda Pushkar dead body. Respect! "

While Rohini Chatterji ‏@RohiniChatterji noted: "@HeadlinesToday flashing images of Sunanda Pushkar's dead body in the crime scene is in very poor taste. #whymedianeedsguidelines."

Kushan Mitra ‏@kushanmitra said: "I have serious, serious issues with a magazine printing pictures apparently of Sunanda Pushkar's dead body. Disgusting in my opinion. "