TRIGGER WARNING: This article contains gruesome details of murder and violence, which could be triggering for some readers.Kangana Ranaut has responded to the Bengaluru murder case, in which a woman and her alleged lover have been accused of killing her husband and her five-year-old son. The actress invoked the disturbing case to question the shifting nature of relationships and what she considers the deepening influence of “westernised” culture in India.

Kangana Ranaut questions rise in relationship crimes

The actor took to her Instagram stories on Wednesday to share a news report about the case. Kangana raised questions about why incidents of partners turning on one another seem to be on the rise, and urged Indians to reconsider adopting Western notions of relationships. “Every other day news is full of such cases, women throwing men off the cliff, or men packing women in blue drums? It’s easy to be westernised but people in the west are not deleting each other under social pressures of arranged marriage or conservative culture,” she wrote.

Kangana Ranaut warns against normalising relationship trends

She continued by pointing out that accepting these changing relationship norms might seem okay, until a similar tragedy hits one’s own family. “It sounds very cool to be accepting of it all until it’s your own child that ends up in a drum. So wake up. Don’t let this culture of benching, ghosting, crumbing, body counts to desensitise you. Don’t normalise it,” the actress wrote.

She went on to connect the concept of “body counts” to what she believes is the broader dehumanisation of relationships, closing her post with a cautionary note that also referenced the blue drum mentioned in reports of such crimes. “Once you are ok with human relations being reduced to mere body counts then don’t cry when you will be reduced to a dead body. Say no to westernised culture of calling human relationships as just body counts, get ready to troll me but remember there is a blue drum in your vicinity too ha ha, bye have a good day ,” she wrote.Ranaut posted another Instagram story with the news report and offered a brief warning about what she believes follows when society becomes numb to such crimes. “You normalise this for others families tomorrow it will be your turn ,” she wrote.

Details of the Bengaluru murder case

In the Bengaluru case, a man and his five-year-old son were found dead. Police have arrested the man’s wife and are investigating what role, if any, her alleged lover played in the killings, along with looking into the details surrounding the child’s death.

Kangana Ranaut’s blue drum post

Kangana followed this up by posting an image of a blue drum, seemingly a reference to the alleged disposal of bodies in high-profile murder cases, and directly called out those who use the term “body counts” for human relationships. “To all my friends who think it’s ok to call human relationships as body counts and reduce humans to just mere bodies…. Ha ha ha I said nothing ,” she wrote.

Kangana Ranaut’s recent work

On the professional front, Kangana Ranaut recently featured in ‘Bharat Bhagya Vidhata’, directed by Manoj Tapadia. Inspired by the real-life bravery of hospital staff during the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, the film spotlights the doctors, nurses, and other workers who kept treating patients amid the chaos. Released in theatres in June, the film began streaming on ZEE5 from August 14, with Kangana playing a lead role in the medical survival drama.