Mumbai Teen’s Death Wrongly Linked to Dahi Handi, Netizens Slam Times of India Journalist Richa Pinto

ByDelhi Magazine Team

Aug 17, 2025 #anti-Hindu narrative, #Dahi Handi controversy, #fact checking, #fake narrative, #Govinda Pathak, #jaundice death, #journalism ethics, #journalist criticism, #media bias, #media credibility, #misleading headline, #Mumbai news, #news reporting, #public outrage, #responsible journalism, #Richa Pinto, #Times of India controversy, #Twitter backlash

Table of Contents

Mumbai, August 17, 2025: Times of India journalist Richa Pinto has come under heavy criticism after she reported the death of a 14-year-old boy in Andheri as the “2nd Dahi Handi related death in Mumbai.”

According to her post, the boy, associated with the Gaondevi Govinda Pathak, collapsed on Saturday evening during Dahi Handi celebrations. The report quickly went viral, gaining over 77,000 views, but the description sparked anger among citizens who accused the journalist of misreporting facts and misleading readers.

What Actually Happened?

Eyewitnesses and local sources clarified that the boy was not part of the Dahi Handi pyramid. Instead, he had been suffering from jaundice and reportedly collapsed while sitting in a tempo.

rICHA pINTO X POST

One user even mocked the reporting style with heavy sarcasm:

NETIZAN ROSTS RACHA PINTO TOI JOURNALIST

Skipper (@Skipper2182) wrote:
“Retard Pinto – Due to Dahi Handi celebrations in Mumbai, there was a cloud burst in Kashmir and 100 people died. Pinto writing the headline: ‘100 deaths due Dahi Handi celebrations’.”

This highlighted how people felt the headline unfairly linked the tragedy with Dahi Handi.

Public Reactions on X (formerly Twitter):

Netizens directly called out Pinto for her wording:

@prince_man11: “Why the first line of this tweet?? Misleading as hell.”
@SVOjha: “How is this Dahi Handi related? Why are you lying and misleading readers?”
@sunder_roma: “Poor kid was just part of the troops not dahi handi pyramid! Wrong headline.”
@ThePujaTeli: *“jaundice related death.”
@MadnessHoney: “He died of jaundice. Was sitting in a tempo. How can you claim it’s a dahi-handi death? That way every single death in Mumbai during the last 24 hours can be called as a dahi-handi death? Has common sense taken leave of reporters @TOIMumbai or is this an anti-Hindu agenda?”

Some even made personal allegations about Pinto’s background and questioned her intent:

@iamsudhish: “Richa Pinto. As you come from a family of converted Christians, that anti-Hindu headline in your post is expected. You should’ve been responsible/honest enough to make enquiries about reason for that death prior to reporting this fatality. Shameless behaviour.”
@TheVishalKay: “How is Dahihandi relevant in this death?”

The Larger Debate

The controversy has reignited discussions about media accountability and religious sensitivities. Critics argue that Pinto’s framing wrongly painted the death as a festival-related tragedy, fueling unnecessary negativity around Hindu traditions.

So far, neither Pinto nor the Times of India has issued a clarification or correction.