The incidents of mass molestation on New Year’s Eve in Bengaluru have received heavy social media coverage. Some victims had even shared their experiences on social media soon after the incident. Politicians and others who made comments perceived as insensitive have been heavily criticised.
The Troll Haiklu Facebook page is considered a must-visit for anyone remotely interested in having a lighter take on happenings in Karnataka and national events in general. The page, which is popular for its memes, however has been facing the heat since January 4 for a meme related to the recent events of molestation on New Year’s Eve in Bengaluru.
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The page pasted a meme (see screenshot) stating that “Ugliest girl of my class posts I feel unsafe in Bengaluru following these new year molestations,” complete with the now-popular image of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah gesturing “stop.” The post was apparently taken down on the afternoon of January 5.
The page administrator wrote a comment stating that it expected to see “everyone is beautiful” comments, but the post got a lot of comments criticising it for its insensitivity. While some users took offence to referring to some girls as ugly, many criticised the page for trying to associate humour with traumatic incidents.
The heavy media coverage on the incidents of molestation and the State government’s insipid initial response to it has fueled public rage in a manner similar to the aftermath of the Nirbhaya gangrape incident in Delhi in 2012. In addition, the greater penetration of social media has resulted in many women openly sharing their experiences online about being molested on New Year’s Eve; some even did it hours after the incident when the mainstream media didn’t know about it.
The slothful approach of the police and insensitive utterances by the likes of Home Minister G Parameshwara have been lampooned by the public and sustained calls for justice and greater respect for women. If the Nirbhaya incident led to a shift in the national discourse on women’s safety and introduced two new paradigms — pre-Nirbhaya and post-Nirbhaya, can we expect the same momentum after the shameful incidents in Bengaluru?
