It is a rainy Saturday afternoon and the entrance to the red house in 3 Robinson Street, an otherwise sleepy lane tucked away near upscale Rawdon Street in the city’s south, is teeming with curious visitors and media persons. It is two days since middle-aged Partha De was found living with the skeletal remains of his elder sister and two pet dogs after the police recovered his father’s charred body from the flat’s bathroom and the house has transformed to a tourist spot.
Although the police have blocked entry to the three-storied house, it does not deter people from milling around the house, firing questions to the police posted there and taking pictures of the ‘haunted house’. Visitors curiously peek inside the adjoining residence of Mr. De’s uncle and click pictures of the staircase.
Indifferent neighbours
“I was passing by and decided to take a look at building where such a shocking revelation was made. I think the society is also responsible for such incidents. If the neighbours were a bit more proactive and inquired about the De family, the incident could have been averted,” a visitor said on condition of anonymity while her husband went around inspecting and clicking pictures of the premises.
In the days following the unravelling of the bizarre case, media speculations were rife about the ‘abnormal’ personal lives of Mr. De, his father Arabindo De and sister Debjani De. As Mr. De undergoes treatment at the city’s Pavlov Mental Hospital, entries made in his personal diary and notes exchanged within the family were made public by news channels and abnormalities of the behaviour of the De family were discussed.
The police, however, remained tight lipped about the case on Saturday and refused to entertain any questions by the media.
Insensitive journalism
Ruing on the lack of sensitivity displayed on the media’s reportage of the case, veteran city-based editor Suvashis Maitra said although the media persons were doing their job, the reports lacked respect to privacy.
“The family had fallen into a pit of depression and were helpless. Instead of sympathising with the Mr. De’s current state of mental illness and giving him the respect he deserves, his personal life is being brought out the to the fore. Why discuss a man’s personal life who is clearly mentally unstable? Competition among media houses to get the maximum information as soon as possible coupled with sensationalism-driven news spurs this kind of insensitive journalism. Very often, media ethics taught at journalism schools differ vastly from the kind which should be practiced in reality,” Mr. Maitra said.
Instead of sympathising with the Mr. De’s current state of mental illness and giving him the respect he deserves, his personal life is being brought out to the fore
Suvashis Maitra
Journalist
