Swastika Mukherjee gets social media bully arrested, thanks Kolkata police

Actress Swastika Mukherjee spoke up against cyber bullying and ensured that one such bully was brought to book after receiving rape and acid-attack threats on social media.

The popular actress later thanked the cyber crimes branch of the Kolkata police for taking prompt actions against the abuser. 

The actress began receiving threats of rape and acid attack after she was misquoted by a media outlet as saying that suicide had become a fashion after former co-star Sushant Singh Rajput died last month. Mukherjee had worked with Rajput in Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! (2015) and Dil Bechara (2020), the latter's last film.

According to a report on the NDTV television news channel's website, a journalist, Shuvam Chakraborty, was picked up from Galsi, Burdwan, after Mukherjee filed a complaint about the false report.

The actress also issued a clarification online, but the attacks on social media did not cease. On 29 June, she then filed another complaint with the police. Later, a man named Koushik Das from Mogra, Hooghly, was arrested by the police.

Following the action, Mukherjee posted a note online, advising everyone not to take abuse on social media lightly and to raise their voices against such abusive and threatening trolls.

Speaking to The Indian Express newspaper, she said cyber attacks “can sometimes snowball into real threats and cause a great deal of mental agony and harm to individuals and their families”.

She continued, “Cyber-bullying is not acceptable. If it is happening with you, please speak up and expose the cyber-bullies. The police and other law-enforcement agencies will help you to the best of their abilities.”