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A rape threat isn't an accident or a consequence of anger. Nor are the internet trolls immature and young. They are well aware of what they are typing and posting.
Trigger Warning: This deals with sexual violence, rape threats, and may be triggering to survivors.
Remember when we created social media sites, they asked us to prove we aren’t robots? It is necessary to keep reminding ourselves that everyone on social media is a person. Even a fake account has to be operated by some human brain.
The men who said you deserve to be raped, who asked for your nudes, or posted vulgar comments about your photos, the men who morphed your photos, are all real people. They exist among us. It is scary that people with this sick mentality exist and we are forced to accept it.
Last year, Ziva Dhoni was subject to rape threats because Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s performance left some “fans” enraged.
Anyone who feels the urge to rape someone’s daughter over lost cricket matches is not a cricket fan; not a human being. Cricketers may win the next series or the one after but what about rape culture?
Recently, India had an early exit from the T20 World Cup. Virat Kohli’s ten month old daughter, Vamika, received rape threats from an anonymous account. The police tracked down that person, who tried to hide under changed usernames. It doesn’t end there.
It was 23 year old Ram Nagesh Akubathini, a graduate from IIT Hyderabad, who was preparing to study abroad. Mumbai Police arrested him. He was the typical ‘successful’ Indian in terms of education and career prospects. Education means nothing if you think a ten month old, who probably can’t recognise alphabets, should be raped. Wait, it doesn’t end here too.
His defence against this monstrosity was bizzare. His father says he was introverted since a year, spent a lot of time online and was angry when India lost to Pakistan.
People can be angry. But anger and giving rape threats are two different things!
His father also said that he might be having a poor eyesight. He posted the tweet “accidentally.”
None of them explains why anybody would send rape threats to a baby.
Rape threat isn’t an accident or a consequence of anger. Nor are the internet trolls immature and young. They are well aware of what they are typing and posting. Even if he didn’t want to tweet it, nothing changes because he did type that horrific tweet. And more so because he thought this.
It is a welcome step and sends out a strong message that online trolling has its limits. Anything beyond fun and entertainment will not be tolerated.
However, Ram Nagesh Akubathini remains just one of the people who regularly abuse women on social media. Women either don’t file complaints or give up after multiple attempts. If a ten month old isn’t spared by these online trolls merely because they are ‘angry’, imagine the plight of women who are active on social media.
We can only hope for similar timely amd strict action in other cases of online harassment too.
Image source: Instagram
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