By Sharanya Gopinathan

Legendary Bollywood actor Sridevi passed away on 24 February 2018 in Dubai. She was just 54 years old.

At the time of writing, her family was still awaiting the results of her autopsy, which means that it’s currently unclear what caused her death. Of course, folks online didn’t need news reports or autopsy results to set the bizarre rumour mill going.

The Times of India, in a piece titled ‘We will never know what killed Sridevi’, drops a bomb in its third paragraph and then backs away smiling. It reads, “Why did the lovely Sridevi die just before her daughter Jhanvi’s debut movie release, just like her bête noire, Boney’s first wife Mona, died a few weeks before her son Arjun Kapoor’s debut release? What could the possible connection be — apart from of course the hapless Boney, widowed twice and left with four children to look after and help groom!”

Other reports detail breathlessly how Sridevi’s husband, Boney Kapoor, had actually left Dubai and returned on 24 February to surprise her (the entire Kapoor clan had been in Ras al Khaimah to attend the wedding of Boney Kapoor’s nephew Mohit Marwah). She was apparently surprised on his return, spoke to him for fifteen minutes, and then went to the bathroom to get ready for dinner. When she didn’t respond or open the door, Kapoor entered to find her motionless in the tub.

The fact that Dubai authorities asked for an autopsy in this situation was enough to convince some social media commentators that there must be something suspicious afoot. Of course, conducting autopsies on foreign nationals who die in the UAE is common protocol there, and in most countries.

Due to the circumstances surrounding #SrideviDeath, the Dubai authorities have asked for a postmortem to be conducted on her body. The PM will now take place and hence the funeral has been postponed to tomorrow. Sridevi’s mortal remains are still in Dubai. (Thread)

— Soumyadipta (@Soumyadipta) February 25, 2018

Folks on social media pointed out her visible good health, as seen from Instagram posts earlier this week from the Kapoor family and other Bollywood celebrities at Mohit Marwah’s wedding. The extremely clued in Soumyadipta also drew attention to some unusual behaviours he alleges Sridevi reported in the days before her death.

Sridevi was hale and hearty even five days before she passed away. She was not suffering from any kind of ailment, not even minor. The industry knows that Sridevi was a health conscious lady and was very fit, even at 54 years.

— Soumyadipta (@Soumyadipta) February 25, 2018

It is being reported that she hadn’t ventured out of her room for 48 hours which is unusual for her. It is being investigated in if the hotel staff did enquire about her health. It was very unusual for her to not come out of her room for two days in her row. No doctor visited her

— Soumyadipta (@Soumyadipta) February 25, 2018

Other commentators went down much nastier lanes, alleging that her premature death was caused by her own lifestyle choices. One commentator announced that celebrities were now suddenly realising, thanks to Sridevi, to listen to their bodies and not push themselves too far even when their fitness instructors ask them to. Madhu Kishwar, in a single tweet, called Sridevi a legendary actor, said she was saddened by her death, and referenced her “invasive treatments” for wanting “youthful looks” as possibly contributing to her death.

Untimely death of supremely talented actor #Sridevi is saddens me. Wonder if it had anything to do with her crash diets plus various invasive treatments for size zero figure & regaining youthful looks

— MadhuPurnima Kishwar (@madhukishwar) February 25, 2018

One social media commentator, Piyali Ganguly, wrote a long post saying that Sridevi’s cardiac arrest could have been caused by her cosmetic surgeries and procedures, and spoke about the excessive pressure female celebrities face to meet an impossible standard of beauty. That post has been widely smacked down with angry reactions to its callous and cruel timing being published in The Quint and DailyO.

These comments and rumours so incensed and upset Ekta Kapoor that she put out a tweet addressed to those touting surgery as the reason for Sridevi’s demise by saying that not everyone who dies of cardiac arrest experiences heart problems or has undergone surgery.

Evil ones pls realise one percent ( as fwded as my doc told me) of the population can have an cardiac arrest without any heart condition or any kind of surgery ! It’s destiny not how evil rumour mongers portray!!!

— Ekta Kapoor (@ektaravikapoor) February 25, 2018

Pakistan’s The Tribune also ran a piece headlined ‘Was Sridevi’s death natural? A look at the Bollywood icon’s last clicked photos’. But that turned out to be just only a look at her last clicked photos, with no answers as to whether the author believes her death was natural or not.