17 August,2016 06:47 PM IST | | mid-day online correspondent
First she received rape threats on Twitter for questioning gymnast Dipa Karmakar's need to pick the 'death vault', then she was questioned by the cops over her usage of the word 'damned'
In what is another shocking and obnoxious instance of social media platforms being used by miscreants, a woman was trolled for her tweets questioning Indian gymnast Dipa Karmakar's choice of a dangerous routine - the Produnova - to get an Olympic medal.
Shockingly, the Jaipur woman's opinions on the social networking site, which she posted on August 14, led to her getting life threats and sexual abuses online.
The woman was forced to seek the help of Union Minister Sushma Swaraj, who referred the complaint to Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, following which a case was lodged by Rajasthan Police.
A case against three Twitter handles of unknown persons was registered under 66 D (Punishment for cheating by personation by using computer resource) and 67 (Punishment for publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form) of the IT act, police said, adding they were trying to trace the accused.
Indian gymnast Dipa Karmakar rests during a training session ahead of the 2016 Rio Olympics. Pic/ PTI
Rajasthan police have now said that they were trying to trace the accused. The harassment reportedly began on Sunday when the perpetrators threatened her and even circulated her pictures online.
"After receiving directions, I met the girl on the night of August 14 and spoke to her about the matter. She filed a complaint and the FIR was lodged on August 15 with Pratap Nagar Police Station," DCP East Kunwar Rastradeep said on Wednesday.
"We are in the process of obtaining some IP addresses and are writing to Twitter seeking information about certain the handles.
"Since their server is located out of the country, it will take some time for us to reach to the users who abused her," the officer said.
"We are working on the case considering the gravity of the case. Since the servers are placed outside India, it is a bit of a time consuming process but we will get it done as early as possible," Mukesh Chaudhary, a cyber crime expert assisting the police, said.
She thanked Sushma Swaraj for her prompt response.
But what is more shocking is the fact that she was questioned by the police over the usage of the word 'damned' in her tweet.
She tweeted about her experience, saying "I told them I hadn't used the word for India. So they let it go."
But she had a valid question to ask from the authorities. She asked, "But my question is: what if I had used the word for India? What then? Is there no freedom of speech left in this country?"
So she just added to the long list of things she cannot do in India, say the word 'damned'.
And she got instant response from Twitterati regarding the need for "free spirits like her" in India.
She dropped the mic, so to speak, on the whole topic with these tweets:
