Trans woman pins down harasser

Hyderabad: The common perception is that ‘western dresses’ encourage men to harass women, who can find safety in the sari. But that was not the case with a molester in Mumbai, who went around groping sari-clad women. Identified as v9nair, he not only posted the molestation pictures online but even geo-tagged them. He was finally called out by Ms Angad Gummaraju, a 20-year-old transgender woman. 

“Sankskari sari was not enough to dissuade this molester, who went around filming himself touching women in crowded areas and posting the videos on Instagram. Though most women in the videos were wearing saris they were still harassed despite many people preaching that women are safe when they wear Indian dresses and cover themselves from head to toe”, Ms Gummaraju said.

Ms Gummaraju, who hails from Bengaluru, is a second year medical student from the Kasturba Medical College, Manipal. She came came across the molester v9nair’s Instagram account while browsing for blouse designs and shared it on Facebook.

“I was shocked to see that the Instagram account had videos in which he was sexually harassing women which is completely disgusting. v9nair real name is supposed to  be Vinay V. Warrier as per his Facebook profile. He works as a customer service associate in Mumbai’’.

Picture of v9nair whose real name is Vinay V. Warrier according to FB profile. 

She said she was surprised when the number of followers in the account went up from 1,646 to 1,700 within a few hours. “The followers had also similar profiles. I was shocked that instead of unfollowing or reporting the account people were following it”, she said.

Ms Gummaraju reported the incident on the Facebook page of Mumbai police. “Soon after my complaint Instagram reviewed the account. I am also planning to lodge a police complaint against this person with the help of a lawyer friend, she said.

“We live in a society which still normalises rape. We will find instances of sexual harassment rampant online or offline,” she said.

“I’m not a man hater. Some of the most positive influences in my life have been from men. But patriarchy is a social issue, and it’s not about men vs women. It’s about society vs harassment, sexism, patriarchy. We collectively need to stand up and fight for what we believe is right, even if that means something as seemingly small as sharing something we’ve found on social media. It goes a long, long way”, Ms Gummaraju said.