Delhi University Student From Dalit Community Harassed For WhatsApp Status
Malvika Choudhary | 25 April 2024 | The Wire
New Delhi: Mira (name changed), a female student from the Dalit community studying at the Faculty of Law at Delhi University (DU), has become the target of online harassment and rape threats after she posted an image of a shivling as part of her WhatsApp status on March 6.
Her fellow students at the university led a campaign against her. The link to her Instagram profile was posted in college groups to “teach her a lesson”.
The image she posted in her WhatsApp status depicted the shivling, a Hindu symbol, in a manner that some found offensive.
Mira, who identifies as an Ambedkarite, has alleged that her harassers subscribe to the ideology of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the Hindu nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
She has been vocal about her views, often quoting figures such as Ambedkar and Jyotirao Phule, which she believes has caused friction with certain students.
Even prior to her WhatsApp status update, she claims to have been subjected to online harassment on platforms like Instagram. Fake accounts were allegedly created in her name, with some even soliciting money from her followers under false pretences.