English
Nithya Nair
Nithya Nair covers Buzz at india.com. You can follow her on Twitter @Nlthya ... Read More
Online threats to celebrities and trolling have become quite common these days. While some celebrities lash oust at insults and unwanted criticisms, a lot of them prefer to be quiet on the online fora, not wanting to start a social outrage. Women receiving rape threats for expressing their opinion on social media is becoming a norm, with the latest being martyred soldier’s daughter Gurmehar Kaur who was brutally trolled and threatened for raising her opinion against the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). The recent victim of cyber bullying is Chinmayi Sripaada, a playback singer in south Indian films and Bollywood. Chinmayi Sripaada took to Twitter today to voice her opinion against cyber bullying, after being threatened online for her opinion on various issues. The singer has signed a petition on Change.org against the cyber crime and appealed to people to support her and stand up against cyber bullying.
Chinmayi Sripaada in her petition on Change.org wrote that she was threatened with rape and acid attacks for expressing her opinion on Twitter. She wrote: “‘You need to be raped …’. ‘I’ll throw acid on your face’. I am a playback singer in the film industry and I am used to being trolled. But these violent threats left me shaken and scared for my life. Twitter refused to act when I tried to report these tweets and told me to file a police complaint. Twitter’s response left me furious! I have the time and resources to fight a legal battle, but what about the millions of ordinary women who use Twitter and face rape threats everyday? Sign my petition asking Twitter to do a mass shutdown of accounts that have tweeted rape threats against women. Rape threats can never be OK. Rape is one of the worst forms of violence. Threats of rape are weapons used to subjugate women and silence them. If Twitter does a large scale shutdown of accounts that threaten to rape women, it will send a strong message that the platform cannot be used for such vicious attacks.”
The singer adds in her petition, “Let’s make Twitter acknowledge this issue on 8th March, which is International Women’s Day. Sign my petition so that I can show them fifty thousand signatures by tomorrow and make them take action. Twitter must clean up its act and become safe for women! #RapeThreatsNotOK.”
Here is what Chinmayi Sripada tweeted:
— Chinmayi Sripaada (@Chinmayi) March 7, 2017
Within 48 hours over 40,000 people have signed my petition. Twitter (and other places) need to be safe for women to express their opinion
— Chinmayi Sripaada (@Chinmayi) March 7, 2017
#RapeThreatNotOK
Sign the petition. For women the world over. https://t.co/wWgGhNQ0qg— Chinmayi Sripaada (@Chinmayi) March 7, 2017
Chinmayi Sripaada’s campaign seems to have grabbed attention online, with over 40,000 people signing the petition in two days. She wrote on Twitter, “Within 48 hours over 40,000 people have signed my petition. Twitter (and other places) need to be safe for women to express their opinion.” She also urged Twitterati to sign the petition with #RapeThreatNotOK. She tweeted, “Sign the petition. For women the world over.”
In her petition, Chinmayi wrote that when she reported the issue to Twitter, they simply ignored it. They told her that unless it was a police case, they couldn’t take action. However, that could not stop Chinmayi. With the support of her fans, she got three people arrested who had to spend 10 days in jail. Highlighting that while she had the resources to prove her accusers guilty, she pities the condition of women who cannot stand for themselves. Chinmayi says, “Twitter has to accept its responsibility. I want Twitter to listen to its women users. It’s time Twitter cleaned up its act and showed women that it is truly listening to our concerns.” (Image Credits- Chinmayi Sripaada Facebook)
For breaking news and live news updates, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter and Instagram. Read more on Latest Viral News on India.com.