Last week, actor Shweta Tiwari revealed that she was receiving online abuse on Instagram from Marathis and supporters of Raj Thackeray. The actor then attached screenshots of the profiles of the social media users who sent her abusive messages and asked Thackeray whether he would support people like them in his party. (Also read: Shweta Tiwari says she is receiving online abuse from Marathi people: ‘Do you believe this is acceptable behaviour?’)
What Shweta said
On Thursday, Shweta clarified that a woman from Thackeray’s team reached out to her and explained what happened next. Taking to Instagram Stories, she began, “A few days ago, I posted a few stories showing how a few men were using extremely derogatory and abusive words against women for absolutely no reason. I also posted their Insta accounts because I genuinely feel that people who behave like this should not be allowed to believe that they can get away with it. I had also raised the question with Raj Thackeray Ji about whether this kind of behaviour is acceptable from people who claim to support him.”
She added that a Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) advocate swiftly reached out to her as soon as she raised the issue. She wrote, “Within just three days, she shared the phone number of the person involved. And also a handwritten apology letter by him. I genuinely want to thank @adv_snehal_adarkar and the MNS team for taking the effort to look into this, find the person responsible and get back to me- without having me to ask them to do it.”
‘I felt better knowing that someone had taken it seriously’
“I also appreciate that they felt it was important to let me know that they do not take insults against women lightly. Snehal also told me that if I ever face any such problem, I can get in touch with them. That effort was genuinely appreciated, and honestly, I felt better knowing that someone had taken it seriously,” she added.
“But at the same time, I couldn’t help thinking about the larger problem. We may be able to catch one or two people here and there, but what about the thousands, or perhaps millions, of people who hide behind their screens and feel completely invincible?” she continued. In the screenshot attached on her Instagram Stories, the advocate clarified that the person who was abusing her online was not part of the MNS party.
“The problem is much bigger than one person or one incident. It is the mentality that makes people believe they can abuse women online without consequences. And that mentality will not change simply because we catch one or two people. I really hope that the world, technology companies and social media platforms eventually find a way to address this properly because online abuse, especially the casual and shameless abuse directed at women, is getting completely out of hand. Still today I want to acknowledge the effort that was made. Thank you for taking it seriously Raj Thackeray ji,” she concluded.
Shweta was seen in The Traitors Season 2. She was evicted in the seventh episode of the show as an innocent.
