Delhi-based journalist Charmaine Edwards was in for a surprise after a Facebook status that she had put up against demonetisation, started receiving flak and abuse, ironically from the Hyderabad Cyber Crime assistant commissioner of police (ACP).
Charmaine took to Facebook on Monday afternoon, and wrote, "Asking if people can stand in line for Jio SIM, Roadies auditon and iPhone, then why not now 'for nation's good'? Is the same as asking if you have sex willingly, then what is your problem with rape. The difference is choice. The difference is not being forced or coerced. The difference is survival." (sic)
Responding to her status, the police officer KCS Raghu Vir called it a "stupid comparison" to use rape as an analogy.
He said, "Surprised that the word rape is used for anything. ask those who got raped what they feel. my post was only to stop using the word rape and not to demean the victims. if u dont understand, i can't help it." (sic)
Things soon got out of hand as the comments that followed started using abbreviations like “fo” and “gth" (go to hell), and also started calling Charmaine and her friends "morons" and "retards".
When she confronted him for using abusive language on a woman's Facebook wall, he replied saying, “did not realise u were a lady.” (sic)
Following up, Charmaine later posted, "You know this country needs tougher cyber laws when the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Cyber Crime, starts trolling you, tells you to f*** off, go to hell, and publicly say 'I don't think you are a lady!' Well done, Raghu Vir KCS, you are an asset to Telangana. I can only imagine the plight of women who come to you with a complaint. God help her." (sic)
However, the police officer has since apologized, well almost.
Stating that he had left his Facebook account logged in at home and work, he claimed that someone else had posted the abusive comments.
"I wrongly let the passion for country get in the way of your right to free speech, and for that I unreservedly apologise on behalf of both (of us)," he commented later.