Reality show participant ill due to too much pressure

WHODUNNIT: Who pressurised Shinjini to perform against all odds is a question that gets conflicting answers.

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Bangalore: Sixteen-year-old Shinjini Sengupta sparked off a nationwide debate on the pressures that reality TV shows are putting on children. Her parents claimed that she was paralysed by depression after a reality TV show judge apparently rejected her.

Now, the producer of the show, Dhoom Machale, Kaustuv Ray says they will help pay her hospital bills, but they refuse to be blamed for her condition.

"This is a neurological problem. It's not possible to collapse in 10 to 15 days. Maybe she had a problem before and there has been a relapse," says Ray.

Doctors at NIMHANS in Bangalore who are treating Shinjini say as much, and the blame, insist the show's producers, is squarely on the parents.

"Lots of people come to attend reality shows. If they are adults, they come themselevs. But if they are minors, parents pressure them into taking part," says Ray.

Meanwhile, one of the judges on the dance show, Ringo, says judges have be honest and sometimes harsh.

"In a reality show, you're supposed to assess, advise and scrutinise," he explains.

Doctors say shinjini's recovering slowly, but neurological problems take time.

The reality show did it, it was the producer's fault, the judge was unfair and now, the parents are to blame. Who pressurised Shinjini Sengupta to perform against all odds is a question that gets conflicting answers, but the fact is, she was under undue pressure. And it's bound to scar her for the rest of her life.