Palash Muchhal’s cousin blames ‘technology’ for cheating allegations; social media remains unconvinced

Social media has been flooded with rumours ever since Smriti Mandhana and Palash Muchhal postponed their wedding. While the decision was apparently made due to her father’s health issues, there have been unverified claims about Palash allegedly cheating on India’s vice captain.

As a mystery woman named Mary D’Costa comes into the picture, viral screenshots of her private chats continue to do the rounds on social media platforms like Twitter (now X), Instagram and Reddit.

Now Palash’s cousin, Neeti Tak, has stepped in to support him. She urged people not to judge Palash based on unverified posts. She reminded everyone that nothing had been confirmed by either Palash or Smriti.

“Palash is going through a critical condition today, you all should not judge Palash as wrong without knowing the truth,” Neeti wrote in Instagram Stories.

“Technology today has come much ahead of humans; that is why people should not judge Palash in the face of rumours… pray for him,” she added.

Palash Muchhal’s mother, Amita Muchhal, earlier said it was her son who had wanted to postpone the wedding even before Smriti Mandhana did. Palash is deeply attached to Smriti’s father, Shrinivas Mandhana, and their bond is even stronger than his relationship with Smriti, she said.

According to her, Palash became very emotional and cried a lot when Senior Mandhana fell sick, which suddenly worsened his health.

“When he (Smriti’s father) fell ill, Palash decided, even before Smriti did, that the wedding should not take place until he fully recovers,” his mother told the Hindustan Times.

Palash was taken to the hospital for four hours, where doctors gave him an IV drip and did an ECG and other tests. His reports are normal, but his stress levels remain high, she added.

Palash Muchhal has been discharged from the hospital after a three-day stay, according to NDTV. Initially, he was admitted to a hospital in Sangli, Maharashtra. Later, he was shifted to the SRV Hospital in Goregaon, Mumbai.

Social media remains unconvinced

As Palash’s cousin blames ‘advanced technology’ and his mother speaks about his bond with Smriti’s father, netizens appear to have already formed their opinions about the ongoing controversy.

“But, she didn't post the real matter or tried to clear the rumours,” wrote a social media user about Neeti Tak’s defence for Palash.

Many of them are calling Smriti ‘God’s favourite child’ who was ‘saved’ just before her marriage. Some of them have assumed the reason why Smriti Mandhana has not issued any formal statement on this.

“Smriti is too classy to obviously talk about but how cheap of Palak and her mom to put out statements like he is much closer to her dad!” wrote one of them on Reddit.

“It’s all PR manipulation. Unfortunately for them, the truth came out,” commented another.

Another user wrote, “It is good that she found out a day before the wedding and not a day after the wedding. God saved her.”

During 25-26 November, the interest in ‘Smriti Mandhana’ was high on Google India: