Just when we were recovering from media’s dance of death following Bollywood icon Sridevi’s untimely demise, sections of the media have struck again. At the receiving end, on this occasion, is Bollywood star Irrfan Khan.

On March 5, Khan put out a statement on Twitter, stating that he is ailing and has a ‘rare disease’. Irrfan said: “Little had I known that my search for rare stories would make me find a rare disease.”

Even as he, his friends and his family are trying to work out a way to cope with the crisis, he requested the audience to not “speculate” during these trying times. That was his only request.

But media would have none of it.

Only next day, NewsX ran a post with the headline: “Irrfan Khan is rumoured to have been diagnosed with Brain Cancer.”

The post was updated last night and has a fresh headline which reads: “Irrfan Khan reveals he has a rare disease.”

With no clarification given to readers or a note on the changes made, the copy goes on to state that NewsX does not “confirm” the news. It further states that “there are some unconfirmed claims on the internet which are floating around.” Dear NewsX, without being able to confirm such news, how did it become a story on your website?

Well, another post on the channel’s website provides an answer to this riddle. The source for NewX’s piece, in their words, are “unconfirmed rumours”. But the NewsX post that began with “according to unconfirmed rumours” is no longer available.

The reason, which the Google cache of the post reveals, could be the number of speculations that were made in the article. It not only stated that Khan was suffering from “Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) Grade IV, also called ‘death on diagnosis’” but also stated “if the latest reports are to be believed, Irrfan had been having convulsion attacks along with slurring of speech due to which he had to be admitted into the Hospital immediately.”The post does not mention a source.

The screenshot that NewsX has used in its story pointing at “unconfirmed claims on the internet” resembles a post on a blog, indicivil.blogpost.in. The same blog also has another speculative post, on Sridevi, titled: “Did Boney Kapoor Kill Sridevi?”

Another example of media hitting a new low is a post published in Amar Ujala, a leading Hindi-language daily. In a post on its website, Amar Ujala has stated: “इरफान खान को हुआ ब्रेन कैंसर, अस्पताल में भर्ती, 10 दिन बाद सामने आएगी सच्चाई (Irrfan Khan has brain cancer, hospitalised, truth to be revealed in 10 days).”

Amar Ujala also stated that Khan has been admitted to Kokilaben hospital. This is not true, according to hospital officials. “It is not true. He is not here at the hospital for treatment,” an unnamed official was reported as saying by The Indian Express. Among others, Jansatta reported: “गंभीर बीमारी से जूझ रहे अभिनेता इरफान खान, कोकिला बेन अस्पताल में हैं भर्ती! जानिए सच्चाई”, while CatchNews Hindi reported: “गंभीर बीमारी के बाद इरफ़ान खान अस्पताल में भर्ती”.

So far Amar Ujala, Jansatta and CathNews Hindi have neither apologised for giving wind to these speculations nor updated their pieces. But the former did have another piece on its website revealing the truth behind Irrfan Khan’s ‘brain cancer’.

Another leading Hindi daily, Dainik Bhaskar, posted: “इरफान खान को ब्रेन ट्यूमर: ये हैं ट्यूमर के 5 संकेत (Actor Irrfan Khan has brain tumour: These are tumour’s 5 symptoms).

The post has now been updated. The reworked headline reads: “क्या इरफान खान को ब्रेन ट्यूमर है? : ये हैं ट्यूमर के 5 संकेत, भूलकर भी न करें इग्नोर (Does Irrfan Khan have brain tumour? : These are tumour’s 5 symptoms, do not ignore even by mistake).”

Jagran Prakashan-owned Naidunia also added to the speculations with a post titled: “Bollywood actor Irfan Khan suffering from brain cancer, hospitalized.”

The post, whose headline has now been updated, begins with the statement “जबरदस्त चर्चा है कि बॉलीवुड के संजीदा अभिनेताओं में गिने जाने वाले इरफान खान ब्रेन कैंसर के शिकार हैं (There is intense discussion that Irrfan Khan, counted among serious actors, has brain cancer).” In terms of respecting Khan’s request, sensitivity and caution do not feature in these reports.

While the fresh headline emphasises the importance of the week for Khan, the post neither apologies nor informs the reader about the changes made.

These speculations have received much outrage on social media with Twitterati calling such speculations “malicious news” and “vile”. Indian filmmaker Raja Sen tweeted out stating that it wasn’t a “scoop”. Sen, further, requested that we wait for official announcements and respect Khan’s wishes to not speculate on his condition.