Killing Mad Sandhu: Disappearing Social Media Posts and Punjab’s Strange History

A busy commercial-residential strip on Loharka Road in Amritsar now bears witness to the stains of violence against vulnerable communities on the soil of Punjab. LGBTQA+ influencer and make-up artist Mad Sandhu (officially named Madhusudan) was shot dead by unidentified men on a bicycle on Saturday night.

A day after the killing, reports said that posts on social media accounts claimed responsibility for Sandhu’s murder. Ironically, these posts are now nowhere to be found. One such claim was attributed to a post by a social media administrator named Goldy Dhillon.

With much speculation and an ongoing police investigation, Sikh radical groups have also come under scrutiny following the news of a three-month-old audio-video clip purportedly featuring a confrontation between Sandhu and Nihang jathedar Manpreet Singh Khalsa.

Amritsar Police Commissioner Harmanbir Singh Gill said, “We cannot verify the authenticity of these social media posts as they are posted from abroad. We are looking at this case from multiple angles, the investigation is going in the right direction and we will crack it soon.”

With over 2,32,000 followers on Instagram, Sandhu has built a career that has gone far beyond the trolling he has faced online. He was the founder of Mane Lane Unisex Salon and appeared in the film Oye Bhola Oye 2, songs like Ragda and the drama-comedy-thriller web series Youth Kartoot.

Sandhu’s murder drew strong reactions both online and offline – from Punjab’s LGBTQA+ communities to the political spectrum.

“It is probably because this is the first such crime against a person from the LGBTQA+ community in Punjab, even though they have been discriminated against for a long time,” said Manu, a member of Queering in Chandigarh, an LGBTQA+ collective formed in 2022.

“Most movies and songs make fun of queer people or make fun of them. There are certain books in Punjabi that mention LGBTQA+ people, but the good ones are not really in the mainstream. Sukirat Anand’s ‘Jalawatan’ was one of the first Punjabi stories about lesbian relationships,” he said, adding that the community was horrified by Sandhu’s murder.

Manu, a member of Queering in Chandigarh, an LGBTQA+ collective founded in 2022. | Photo credit: Special arrangement

Manu said many queer people receive threatening messages from anonymous accounts, but queer expression cannot be suppressed. “As far as the Sikh religion is concerned, people who claim to be true supporters of Sikhism and then threaten or harm the downtrodden are not true Sikhs. They only want to suppress anything that does not fit their definition of gender expression. It goes against the basic principles of ‘Nirbhau Nivair’ and ‘Manas ki jaat sabhai ekai hekai pehism.’

Manu brings up Diljit Dosanjh’s song ‘Aroma’, released a few months ago, in which he used the derogatory term ‘Chakka’. “His fans defended that he wasn’t abusing trans people, but talking about ‘lesser men’. But even if you use abuse traditionally used against trans/gay people, it’s perpetuating queerphobia.”

Dhananjay Chauhan, the first transgender to enroll in Panjab University. | Photo credit: Special arrangement

Dhananjay Chauhan, the first trans person to enroll at Panjab University, traces the roots of queerism in Punjab to the Jamali Kamali Mosque and Tomb in Delhi and the story of Madho Lal. “The 16th-century Punjabi Sufi poet Shah Hussain and his young companion Madho Lal shared a deep romantic bond. Also, when Baba Bulle Shah says, ‘mai nach nach yaar manaona pave lok kanjari bole’, he is referring to queer people,” she said.

Dhananjay believes that Sandhu’s murder, especially as Section 377 was repealed/replaced when the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) came into force in 2024, can intimidate the entire LGBTQA+ community. “BNS does not protect LGBTQA+ people from rape; and this murder may further push them back into the closet,” she added.

Among the many pro-feminist and LGBTQA+ collectives in the region, the Punjab Feminist Union of Students (PFUS) also issued a statement.

Harpuneet Kaur, 26, a member of PFUS, said: “Threats against the queer community of Punjab is nothing new. It is documented that the Amritsar Pride march in 2025 was canceled because radical Sikhs opposed it with a strong warning. I want to ask what is wrong with the use of make up on social media there? Donhi what they are doing is right but what others are doing especially people from LGBTQA+ communities, isn’t that inequality?

Harpuneet Kaur, 26, a member of the Punjab Feminist Union of Students. | Photo credit: Special arrangement

Hindus tried to contact the founders of Amritsar Pride, including through several collectives, but they did not respond due to security concerns. Harpuneet, like Manu, feels that people from the LGBTQA+ community are the most vulnerable. “Sikhs are a minority everywhere except Punjab. I feel that minorities must be treated with respect and expect the same,” she added.

Published – 05 Oct 2026 0:48 IST