An Indian actress whose face was Photoshopped on to pictures of naked porn stars has condemned the people responisble for it and defiantly told those who shared it on social media that she is not embarrassed.
For the last week, the morphed image of Jyothi Krishna, who is known for her roles in Life of Josutty, has gone viral on WhatsApp and other social media sites.
Although Indian actresses from the south of the country generally dress modestly with legs and shoulders covered up, some fans have begun Photoshopping the heads of female film stars onto pornographic photos.
The film star has hit back at the increasingly common practice in a post on her Facebook page.
“Hi friends, some boy/girl belonging to a good family has been circulating a morphed photo with my head and his/her's mother's or sister's body through Whatsapp.
“I have nothing else to say to the one who has created this morphed image because his/her attempt to do something he/she wished to just failed this time. I could see the immense support of many of my friends, who messaged me regarding this. I am so thankful to all my well-wishers who stood with me and supported me,” she wrote in local language Malayalam.
Krishna, who has 1.5 million followers on Facebook, told BBC Trending that she was speaking out to “give other social media harassment victims like myself, the strength to express their voice and bring culprits in front of the law.”
The fake image is by no means the first to go viral on social media - the dissemination of Photoshopped porn has become a growing problem in the region.
Two Keralan teenagers were arrested and charged under cybercrime laws last year for posting a fake video of another popular South Indian actress, Asha Sarath, on WhatsApp and Facebook.
Krishna is one of the leading names to emerge from the Malayalam film industry which is centred in the southern Indian state of Kerala. Although the industry’s box-office is far smaller than that of Bollywood - it produces approximately 200 films a year - Malayalam films have often gone on to gain global recognition.
