"This pervert Partha Mandal is sending me dirty sexual messages. My first reaction was to ignore & block him. But then I thought the silence would encourage him to find other victims..."
– Sharmistha Mukherjee on Facebook
How many of us have sighed in despair on receiving sexually explicit messages from known or unknown people on Facebook. While some of us may have named and shamed our perpetrators, Sharmistha Mukherjee, the Indian president's daughter and Congress' chief spokesperson and communications-in-charge, went a step ahead and filed an official complaint against her harasser who sent her lewd messages on the social network platform.
"This pervert Partha Mandal is sending me dirty sexual messages. My first reaction was to ignore & block him. But then I thought the silence would encourage him to find other victims," Sharmistha wrote on Facebook. "Just blocking & reporting is not enough. I strongly feel such ppl shd be publicly exposed & humiliated. I'm posting screenshots of his profile & messages he sent me. I'm also tagging him. Pls share this post & tag this rat as a msg that these pervert acts will not be taken lightly," she added in her post.
Late Friday night, Mandal sent Mukherjee lewd messages in her inbox. Incensed, on Saturday morning, Mukherjee at first took the "naming and shaming" route and posted screenshots of Mandal's profile and the messages he sent.
Talking to dna, Mukherjee stated that she did not want to misuse her position as the President's daughter. However, after the post went viral, and several women shared their experience with her, Mukherjee changed her mind and filed a complaint in New Delhi district's Mandir Marg police station.
"I was in a quandary. I wanted to fight like any other common person. However, if my position as the President's daughter can make a difference and highlight this issue almost all women face, then I am willing to use it," Mukherjee told dna over phone.
Online harassment is not uncommon, and in case of women it tends to take on sexual overtones. Fending of "friendship requests" is not uncommon and lewd messages from anonymous users are frequent.
Since the pictures went public, Mukherjee's post has attracted almost 399 shares, almost 1,000 reactions and more than 500 comments. Most of the comments have lauded Mukherjee's decision to "name and shame" and some urged her to take the matter further and file a complaint with the Cyber Cell.
"We have received a complaint from Ms.Mukherjee. A case will be registered and the perpetrator will be charged under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and sections under the IT Act," said Anyesh Roy, deputy commissioner of police (DCP), Cyber Crime.
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