During a photoshoot in Kerala, tragedy struck. A 26-year-old model, Divyanshu Joshi from Delhi, died by drowning. He had entered a dangerous and abandoned stone quarry in the Ernakulam district of Kerala on May 28, 2026. He was a model and also managed the Delhi retail outlet for the artisanal clothing label Kartik Research. The brand has outlets in Delhi and New York and is helmed by 25-year-old designer Kartik Kamra.
His death has cast a dark shadow on the fashion landscape in India. It has brought up serious questions on the safety and security of models who work for fashion brands and what laws are in place to safeguard them.
According to a report in Mint, Sarin AS, the station house officer of Kodanad Police Station in Ernakulam, where the case
has been registered, said the FIR has been registered in the name of Rajeev Neelakantan of Kochi of Rubberband Productions, which had been fired by the Delhi-based fashion brand.
It also became increasingly clear, during the course of the initial investigation, that necessary permissions had not been taken for this shoot. The quarry, which had been inactive for over two decades, was known to be dangerous, and the panchayat of the surrounding area had cordoned off the area.
After a slew of fashion accounts and lifestyle influencers drew attention to this tragedy, the fashion brand took to Instagram to address the incident and push back at the narrative that was doing the round.
The brand wrote, “We are heartbroken by the loss of our dear colleague and friend, Divyanshu Joshi, who passed away on 28 May 2026. For the past two years, Divyanshu led our Delhi store with warmth, dedication, and generosity. He was deeply loved by his team and will be profoundly missed by everyone who had the privilege of knowing and working alongside him (sic).”
With this story gaining a lot of traction online, they brand went on to add, “As inaccurate accounts of this tragedy continue to circulate, we wish to clarify that Divyanshu was in Kerala as part of a seasonal photo shoot and was not participating in any swimming related activity as part of the production. Some public reports have mischaracterised the circumstances of the incident (sic).”
They add, “We are sharing this clarification so that the focus remains on honouring his life and memory. We will not be making any further public comment and ask that the privacy of those close to him be respected at this difficult time (sic).”
Both the local panchayat president, Shimy Varghese, and Neelakantan confirmed to The Mint that the mandatory administrative permissions required to shoot at or enter the quarry had never been acquired. Furthermore, the statements detailing the actual sequence of events vary significantly.
A statement from Kartik Research, reported by Mint Lounge, said that the brand’s founder, Kartik Kumra, personally ‘entered the water to search for Divyanshu but was unable to locate him’, while the crew contacted emergency rescue services.
Contrary to this sequence, SHO Sarin told Mint Lounge, “Nobody jumped in the lake after Joshi (Divyanshu Joshi).” Authorities noted that Divyanshu slipped into a deep, spiral-pyramid section of the quarry while being filmed, and rescue units later retrieved his body from a depth of approximately 30 feet.
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