Actress Priyanka Chopra’s cousin, Meera Chopra has recently becomes the target of trolls on social media after she said she was not a fan of Jr NTR on Tuesday.
Meera, who has also worked in a few Telugu films, on Tuesday did a chat session with her fans on Twitter. In the interaction, she was asked to name her favourite actor in Telugu cinema. When a user asked her to describe actor Jr NTR in one word, Meera wrote, “I don’t know him…I am not his fan.”
When another user said she would become a fan of NTR if she watched his films Shakti and Dammu, Meera replied, “Thank you but not interested.”
Meera Chopra receives rape and death threats
Meera retweeted some of the messages she received which also drew the attention of Jr NTR to the rape and death threats by his fans.
She tweeted, “@tarak9999 i didnt kno that ill be called a bitch, whore and a pornstar, just bcoz i like @urstrulyMahesh more then you. And your fans will send my parents such wishes. Do u feel successful with such a fan following? And i hope u dont ignore my tweet!!!” (sic)
@hydcitypolice @CyberCrimeshyd i would like to report all these accounts. They are talking abt gang banging, are abusive and death threatning. Unfortunately they are all @tarak9999 fanclubs. @Twitter i would request you to look into it and suspend these accounts. pic.twitter.com/7bBEz2fZHh
— meera chopra (@MeerraChopra) June 2, 2020
Well i didnt know not being somebodys fan was a crime.. i want to say this loud to all the girls that if you are not a fan of @tarak9999 , u could be raped, murdered, gangraped, ur parents could be killed as tweeted by his fans. They r totally spoiling the name of their idol.
— meera chopra (@MeerraChopra) June 2, 2020
She questioned Jr NTR if it was a crime for liking Mahesh Babu more than him. She wrote, “@tarak9999 i didnt kno that ill be called a bitch, whore and a pornstar, just bcoz i like @urstrulyMahesh more then you. And your fans will send my parents such wishes. Do u feel successful with such a fan following? And i hope u dont ignore my tweet!!”
@tarak9999 i didnt kno that ill be called a bitch, whore and a pornstar, just bcoz i like @urstrulyMahesh more then you. And your fans will send my parents such wishes. Do u feel successful with such a fan following? And i hope u dont ignore my tweet!! https://t.co/dsoRg0awQl
— meera chopra (@MeerraChopra) June 2, 2020
Singer Chinmayi Sripada, who has also received rap and acid attack threats, came out in support of Meera and wrote, “One of the reasons I stopped saying I even “like movies” is because there are people who’ll use that as a means to abuse. As someone who gets rape threats everyday, I suggest you file a case. Pick the abusive ones from this and file it with @NCWIndia.” (sic)
Iam not the one to get scared of their threats. This is a social issue, not a petsonal one now. they r openly threatning, abusing and even discussing rape. His fan clubs need to ne pulled down. Thanks fr the support. Ill be in touch! https://t.co/cgMTgHv79l
— meera chopra (@MeerraChopra) June 2, 2020
Talking about the incident, the actor said, “I conducted an ‘Ask Meera’ session on Twitter, and a fan asked me about my favourite actor from the south film industry. I said Mahesh Babu. Then somebody asked if I liked Junior NTR, and I said I don’t know him, and I am not a fan. That’s it. As soon as I said that, I was bombarded with abuses, murder threats, rape threats, character assassination and threats against my parents. I have got close to 30,000 abusive tweets so far.”
Ask Meera if as a female celeb, she feels disgusted when the character of a woman is torn to bits if they express an opinion that may not be in consonance with what others think, and the actress said, “Is there no freedom of choice and expression left in today’s social media world? How can it be a crime to not be somebody’s fan? We can’t possibly love everybody. I’ve been tagged a whore, porn star, bitch and whatnot for just expressing my opinion on not being a Jr NTR fan! It’s unfortunate. I’ve been given threats of gang rape, wishes that my parents die of Covid-19. Is this a civilised society? I am angry, but not scared. I’ve been constantly talking about women issues and here I face one myself.”
Is she willing to take strict action against this? “Yes,” said Meera, adding, “I am already in talks with the cyber cell team. I’ve always advocated that women should fight for themselves and stand against what’s wrong. Then how can I not do anything about this! You cannot character assassinate a woman, give threats, and abuse her for sharing her choice. I have to raise my voice against such fan clubs. These are the kind of people who go out and commit rapes and murders.”
The actress goes on to say that such fans draw encouragement from the stars they root for. “I feel sad for such stars who have such twisted fanbase, is this what stardom is? I think a star should address such fan clubs and insist that they refrain from such hooliganism. But they don’t do that. Their fans are openly discussing gang rapes and murders and they also use their DPs, but stars just stay quiet,” said Meera, adding she has tagged Jr NTR, sharing some abusive tweets. “I hope he responds to his fans,” added Meera.
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While such trolls don’t scare her, she feels worried about the safety of women in the country. “Apart from threats to me, one of the trolls wrote, ‘Your parents will die soon because of Corona.’ How can such statements not incite anger in you? I want all his fan clubs to be pulled down from Twitter. People who have given death threats and gang rape threats should be arrested. And if that doesn’t happen, I’ll start believing that there is no safety for women in our country,” concludes Meera.