Hours after actor Vijay Sethupathi announced that he will not be acting in 800, a biopic of Sri Lankan cricketer Muthiah Muralidaran, a social media user issued rape threats against his minor daughter. Several social media users came down heavily on the offending person and demanded that they be arrested for advocating violence against a child. The Twitter user, who goes by the name Rithik (Handle: @ItsRithikRajh), tweeted with pictures of Vijay Sethupathi and his underage daughter and said she should be sexually assaulted, “in order for her father to understand the difficult lives led by Tamils in Sri Lanka.”
Several users shared the tweet demanding that the person behind the handle be arrested and jailed. DMK MP S Senthil Kumar tweeted, “Are they human beings? Kindly track this person and put him behind bars,” and tagged the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and the Chennai police’s official Twitter handles.
Singer Chinmayi also expressed disgust and condemnation against the tweet. “A Tamil man recording his difference of opinion. This is why many in this society stand in support of the predators. Is nobody in this system going to change this? A man who can say in public about raping a child is a criminal,” she posted. She had tagged the official Twitter handles of Chennai Police and the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Adyar in her tweet. She expressed anguish asking why does the society watch silently when this happens. “Why does this crappy society do this? Watch silently when this happens? How are men raised to speak out a rape threat? Why is it when adults fight like hyenas, the women and children have to suffer? Shame on all of you who do it and those who watch and remain silent,” she tweeted.
Another user who goes by the name Yazhini said, “To men out there, when you intend to rape someone/sexually abuse someone please don’t think that the victim should feel ashamed. It’s you, the abuser who should be ashamed of yourself. And a paedophile is on the loose out here. Watch out.”
Several more users called for the person’s arrest and reported the account.
A rudimentary glance of the tweets posted by that particular user showed that the user is a habitual offender who posts rape threats against several women on Twitter. In fact, the user has also posted offensive sexual comments against actor Anushka Sharma previously. Even on Monday, when actor Kasturi condemned the tweet against Vijay Sethupathi’s daughter, the Twitter user issued rape threats to Kasturi as well. The user's Twitter profile was later restricted by the platform after users reported his highly offensive tweets.
Vijay Sethupathi, on Monday, announced that he will not be a part of the Muralidaran biopic 800 after several personalities opposed the decision of him acting in it. The actor had retweeted Muralidaran’s letter which requested the actor to not be a part of the film, with the words ‘Thank you.... Goodbye’. The film has been mired in controversy since October 13, when its first look poster was released. Several people, including director Bharathiraja, had alleged that Muralidaran was a supporter of the Rajapaksa government in Sri Lanka. The Rajapaksa government is accused of standing by the genocide of the Tamils in Sri Lanka. Trends like #ShameonVijaySethupathi trended on Twitter, urging the actor to not be a part of the film.