Akshara, a student of NIFT, has taken to Twitter to share the mental abuse, threats and abuse she has been made to go through on social media by some abusive handles. The student has claimed that she has been hounded because of her political opinions and because she has been a supporter of the BJP.
Sharing a note from her Twitter account, the student stated that she has been receiving threats and abusive messages for months. Akshara has further shared that she has been receiving anonymous phone calls after her personal information and phone number was leaked on social media.
Mental harassment and trauma
Akshara has stated that the abuse and harassment have been continuing for months. She added that she was already suffering from mental health issues and the ongoing targeted harassment has made her troubles worse. She has added that she has made several complaints regarding the harassment and threats but the harassment has not stopped. She has stated that while the left peddles the idea of freedom of speech, she and some of her friends are being hounded by certain people over their political opinions.
Leaking personal information on Twitter
Another person named Anshuman has shared how an Instagram handle by the name of @/fuckbjp has been doxxing and threatening several persons who show a pro-BJP inclination in their political opinions. He also revealed that the person/persons behind that handle have leaked Akshara’s personal information on twitter, by replying under random tweets and tagging others, in order to launch a coordinated attack to abuse and threaten Akshara.
https://twitter.com/alloutlefties/status/1269604170530582528?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwNCW chief takes cognisance
After Akshara’s plight gained attention on social media, author and columnist Shefali Vaidya had tagged the chairperson of the National Commission for Women Rekha Sharma to take cognisance of the issue and help the girl.
https://twitter.com/ShefVaidya/status/1269817680913104897?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfwfollowing Shefali Vaidya’s tweet, NCW Chairperson Rekha Sharma has responded saying that she is looking into the matter. Sharma has stated that the NCW will address the issue today itself.
It is notable here that targeted harassment of private individuals due to their political inclinations and opinions has been something that has been prevalent in the last few years. Recently, there was a group of leftists, Pakistanis and Islamists which was doxxing and targeting Indian Hindus working in the Gulf nations over their political or ideological opinions, painting them as ‘Islamophobic’ and thus making them vulnerable to the strict blasphemy laws in those countries. In an age where social media and digital presence is a significant part of many people’s professional lives, doxxing and targeted online harassment often brings disastrous consequences for the victims.