Tanu (name changed to protect identity), 19, remembers her dream of becoming the first engineer in her family. “Now, I only dream of being able to get out of my house,” she says. After she received death and rape threats on social media last month, her parents won’t even allow her onto the veranda of their home in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand.
Some weeks ago, Tanu posted a picture of her and her Muslim boyfriend on Instagram. It was picked up and tweeted multiple times, with details of her Instagram handle, school and home addresses. Threats started pouring into her DMs.
There are increasing reports of social media accounts associated with the right-wing (the bios usually use words like “Proud Hindu”) targeting girls and women who are Hindu, with dire consequences. Women who put out photographs with Muslim men or those who may dance to a tune covering their faces (akin to a hijab) are all targeted. An excuse used for this online violence is ‘love jihad’. ‘Informants’ report women to WhatsApp groups or certain social media accounts, and a stream of online and offline abuse begins.
Kalpana Srivastava, who says in her Twitter bio that she is a lawyer, was one of those who had retweeted Tanu’s photos and personal details, escalating the abuse and hate. “There is a sudden rise in cases of ‘love jihad’, and young girls are trapped in it. Regarding the tweet, I only shared my views and asked her questions about her friendship with the boy,” says Ms. Srivastava, who has no relationship with either the woman or the man. She has in the past retweeted similar content. Her timeline features numerous pictures of her with BJP leaders.
“The girl’s details were available on her account, and if she faced any kind of harassment or abuse, she should have filed a police complaint,” Ms. Srivastava says, nonchalantly.
Going to the police was never an option, Tanu says, because of the stigma of having a Muslim boyfriend and being “called out” for it, with Bajrang Dal members even coming to her house to threaten the family. “They keep an eye on me. It is difficult to imagine because these are people from my own community. How could they do this to me?” she says.
Across north India
In her home in western Uttar Pradesh (U.P.), Riya (name changed), 16, says, “I made a mistake by creating a social media account and an even bigger mistake by posting a photograph with him,” referring to her friend who is Muslim.
In Riya’s case, too, her parents do not allow her to step out of the house following the threats. “Not just my photos, the details of my school were leaked too,” she says. She deactivated her account after a few days. “I was scared for myself and my family. Even my brother received threats.”
Consequently, Riya dropped out of school and tuition and now says that she wants a break. “Pursuing a career outside my city is an unimaginable dream after what I have been through,” she says, referring both to her own trauma and her parents’ fears.
A Bajrang Dal district coordinator from western U.P., Vivek Tyagi, who has been actively working against Hindu-Muslim partnerships, says, “We are only creating awareness about what is happening with Hindu girls. If we don’t take action today, we will have to bear the consequences tomorrow,” he says, admitting that personal details of the girls are being shared on social media.
Looking for acceptance
Worried for her life, her parents and siblings, Shilpi (name changed), 18, took the decision of moving out from the city where she was studying to her village. “I paid the price for an Instagram reel I did last year, in which I just covered my head,” she says.
Insinuating that she was being converted to Islam, a tweet that received over 6,000 likes, spread this month. It was accompanied by a photograph of her with a Muslim friend from her neighbourhood. On her Instagram account, she had to individually delete hundreds of comments and block accounts. “It is frustrating because these are people from my own community, resorting to name calling,” she says, adding that when she tried to explain it was just a song, “they would shut me down”.
“My parents don’t want me to work or study further. They plan on getting me married. But because of this incident, they think nobody will accept me,” she says, exhibiting the trauma and fear of women who often bear the consequences of gender-based violence.
