Women want CM Pinarayi Vijayan to act on bullies

Thiruvananthapuram: Women activists are up in arms against cyber bullying and harassment of women by a section of vested interests.  A group of 100-odd  women has  sent letters to chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan seeking action against the guilty.  This comes in the wake of the cyber attacks faced by three women--a film critic who commented against Mohanlal’s recent blockbuster moie, actor Parvathy who made some remarks against Mammootty’s film Kasaba and an upcoming actress who made a casual remark on TV that was not liked by Mammootty fans.

The women consisting  of  lawyers, nurses, movie makers, share brokers, HR personnel and many others,  are  part of #TryStoppingUS and #NeverthlessWePersist groups. They also  sent the copies of their e-mail letters to Mr M. V. Jayarajan, private secretary to the chief minister, and Mr Manoj Abraham, IG, Thiruvananthapuram range. Anu Somarajan, a share broker based in Alappuzha,  told DC that  a Facebook group, ‘Queens Launch’ comprising over 800 Malayali women activists from across the world, had   sought a safe cyberspace. The women who supported the victims were abused by group attacks. “The guilty must be exposed and  punished,”  she  said.     

The cyber bullies had attacked the woman film critic's space on the internet and beyond.  The Facebook page of the  upcoming actress was   spammed with offensive and sexually explicit comments. Actor Parvathy faced the wrath of bullies over  her comment regarding misogyny in 'Kasaba.' Athira Menon, lead public policy official with a global taxi technology company in Kochi,  told DC that the  women collective  does not have a "face" on the lines of #MeToo# campaign. We want to end the  cyber bullying of  women and the campaign is  every woman's fight,"  she said. The chief minister's office confirmed receiving the e-mails from the women.