Actress Renu Desai, who has been viciously trolled by the fans of her ex-husband, actor Pawan Kalyan, on social media for making public her recent engagement, said on Instagram that, “the facts of her divorce (from Kalyan)” will silence all trolls.
Desai, who got engaged on June 16, had to quit Twitter after Kalyan’s fans attacked her relentlessly. This continued even after Kalyan posted a congratulatory tweet to her. Replying to one of the trolls that made a personal comment on her Instagram page, Renu wrote,
“Thank me forever as Kalyan garus fans for me keeping silent on the topic of divorce for so many years! If I open my mouth and just state the facts of my divorce all this stupid arrogance of yours will go down the drain!”
Desai was married to Kalyan between 2009 and 2012. It was the latter’s second marriage. After the divorce, Kalyan married Russian national Anna Lezhneva and, predictably, was not subjected to any criticism. Desai feels that the angry trolling is “a reflection of the misogynistic society we live in”.
“The barrage of abuses hurled at me are a reflection of the misogyny that’s inherent in the patriarchal society we live in. I also think it’s a reflection of how we bring up our boys. I am confident that I have raised Akira in such a way that he will never speak to a woman this way. The people who troll need to be educated so that they are aware of what is and isn’t acceptable.”
Some fans of Kalyan have urged others to unfollow Desai as she is not their ‘vadina’ (sister-in-law) anymore.
Desai told the Times Of India that she received death threats on her social media accounts. Following this, she made sure she got the offending tweet deleted. “Some of the threats were extremely scary. There was one person who threatened to kill me if I marry again. We were forced to take police action and got the tweet deleted. It’s scary, because even though it’s a virtual threat, we don’t know what the person is really capable of.”
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Last year, Desai mentioned in a television interview that she might marry again. This led to a barrage of abuse from Kalyan fans who told her that she will ‘lose their respect’ if she marries again. Singer Chinmayi Sripada was also targeted when she offered support to Desai.
At a time when women all over the world are clamoring for safe spaces, Twitter’s checking of abusive accounts, or the lack of it, seems to be a consistent offender with literal armies of abusers trolling anyone they disagree with — from politicians and journalists to actors and people associated with them. Desai’s case is yet another in the long line of cases of women being issued rape and death threats online and social media platforms being glacial in their pace to address the issue.
Image Courtesy: Telugu 360