Shaheen Bhatt Reveals She Received Rape Threats On Instagram, Says Will Take Legal Action

Shaheen Bhatt has revealed that she has been receiving abusive messages, including rape and death threats, on social media. "I will use all legal recourse available to me to take action," wrote Bhatt. Shaheen, who is the sister of actress Alia Bhatt, has called out the trolls who have been targetting her and shared screenshots of a series of offensive messages on her Instagram stories from her official account. She has said that those who are responsible for sending the inappropriate and hateful messages to her, should be warned of legal action against them.

Sharing those abusive messages, Shaheen wrote on Instagram, "Does this surprise you? Why? It doesn't surprise me." On her decision to speak up about the issue, she wrote, "I wondered for days whether or not this was something I should address."

What You Should Know

• Shaheen Bhatt says she has received abusive messages, rape and death threats on Instagram.
• She shared the screenshots of the threats on Instagram stories and called out the offenders.
• Her mother Soni Razdan has also come out in support of her daughter.

She added, "I debated whether it was worth the effort it would take because ugh, why waste time and even 1% of mental processor power on this. But then I realised, if I believe that the world should be a place in which women can feel safe and exist without being constantly threatened, sexualised or subjected sexist/misogynistic slurs with the sole intent to humiliate them - if I believe women should be treated like humans. Then that's a world I have to help create. And in order to create that world I have to draw boundaries in my own life and pursue action no matter how annoying or time consuming or downright sad it is."

Also Read: Depression in Teenage Girls Rising: Study

Shaheen's mother Soni Razdan has also come out in support of her daughter and called out the abusers. The veteran actress directly lashed out at Instagram for failing to curb such remarks and wrote in the post, "I do hope you’re reading this and taking some note of it. Because it really gets to the root of the issue. So easy na to let the abusers off the hook. To let yourself off the hook. To let the onus fall on the abused to take action to protect themselves. It’s basically and fundamentally ALL WRONG."

Razdan further wrote that it was high time such abuse was stopped at the source itself, "And the stinking abusers get their just desserts. Social media has for too long now become the most antisocial media mainly because those running the platforms are not doing enough to prevent abuse.”

In 2018, Shaheen Bhatt revealed she battled depression. She also wrote and launched her debut book I've Never Been (Un)Happier, in which she opened up about dealing with depression.

Speaking at the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival 2020 in February this year, on a session on mental health, moderated by SheThePeople, Shaheen said that depression is a stigma and needs to be actively spoken about. “Anything that we don’t understand we inherently fear, and anything we fear then becomes a stigma. And unfortunately, there is a lot we do not know about the human mind yet.”

Also Read: Recover Your Mental Health With These Simple Steps

Feature Image Credit:  iDiva

Read More Stories By Ria Das