The body of a man was found hanging from Jaipur’s Nahargarh fort on Friday morning and a message written on a rock nearby suggested the death was linked to the row over the Bollywood movie Padmavati.
“We don’t just hang effigies. Padmavati”, said the message in Hindi, seen in images posted by news agency ANI.
The man has been identified as Chetan Saini, a 40-year-old local resident, who ran a jewellery and handicrafts business from home. Saini left home on Thursday afternoon and last spoke to his wife at 5.30 pm, a police officer said.
An investigation is on to find out whether it was suicide or murder, said Satyendra Singh, DCP Jaipur (North).
Singh said there were things written in Hindi on the rocks nearby, which are linked to Padmavati. “We will probe whose hand writing it is and who has written it,” he said.
When asked about mention of the some tantric ritual with the victim’s name on the rocks, Singh said Saini’s family has denied that he was involved in tantric rituals.
Protests against the film for allegedly distorting history have been on for weeks across the country, with two states — Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat — even banning it from release. Several threats have been issued by fringe Hindu right-wing groups against actress Deepika Padukone, who plays Padmavati, and the film’s director Sanjay Leela Bhansali.
Commenting on the incident, Rajput leader Giriaj Singh Lotwara said, “This is a matter of probe. Padmavati is a burning issue and anything can be linked to it. No organisation can go to such an extent of threats or encourage such things.”
Padmavati tells the story of queen Padmini, who is said to have killed herself to avoid being captured by Muslim emperor Alauddin Khilji. Outfits such as the Shri Rajput Karni Sena are angry over a rumoured depiction of a romance between Padmini and Khilji, played by Ranveer Singh.
The film’s release was put off last Sunday in the face of the protests.
