If you thought the announcement of the creation of Telangana by The Times of India was somewhat bizarre, you should take a look at the even more bizarre stunt by a Goa daily. Herald, one of Goa’s three largest-selling newspapers carried a re-created shocking photo-illustration of a mother jumping off a river with two children as the front page lead photo in its July 30 issue.

The crude photo illustration was perhaps meant to accentuate and convey the tragedy which had taken place the previous day — that of a 35-year-old lady doctor’s leap to death from a bridge along with her two daughters aged 2 and 5 years of age.

The illustration which carries the byline of the newspaper’s designer, Manoj Shirodkar, shows a woman wearing a pink salwar kameez and two children in the middle of a leap and in various stages of excitement. One can even see a hint of a smile on the face of the smaller child in the illustration, which has been slightly blurred for effect. But what’s unmistakable is the state’s most prominent Mandovi bridge in the backdrop, from which Dr Vaishali Kambli jumped off with her children in the wee hours of July 29. Their bodies were pulled out later in the day.

The publication of the illustration has expectedly resulted in a slew of outrage in the social media.

Writer Cecil Pinto said the newspaper owes an apology to the Kambli family and the newspaper’s readers. “This is a sad suicide and not a happy Sao Joao (a traditional Goan monsoon festival which involves jumping into wells as a mark of celebration)! I think the Editor of Herald owes not only the family of the deceased but also its readership a front page apology. Please forward this to your friends if you agree with me and also contact the Editor and convey your sentiments”, wrote Pinto on Goanet, one of the oldest mailing lists on issues related to Goa and Goans.

A small front page apology did follow on July 31.

Interestingly, the expression of regret, which was published in the top left column of the newspaper, was not attributed to the newspaper’s editor. The newspaper has also refrained from publishing a slew of emails which have been sent to it by outraged readers. Many of whom have taken recourse to sending the same letters to social media websites and other mailing lists.

As Ethel da Costa, Goa Station Head, Radio Mirchi wrote “… today’s front page photograph of the unfortunate doctor’s suicide along with her two minor girls, is completely bad in taste. For the sake of sensationalism and alleged sales in mind, it is simply not ethical to portray a horrific incident in visual graphic, without keeping the sentiments of the readers and the families in mind”.

The endemic rot which prevails in the newspaper industry to sensationalise even the most tragic or serious of incidents cannot be ignored. One could, though, expect that the editor of Herald would have displayed some journalistic integrity and apologised for this illustration.

Disclosure: The writer has worked for the Herald from 2000 to 2003.