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Singer Chinmayi Sripada asked Hyderabad Commissioner of Police VC Sajjanar to take cognisance of vile misogynistic comments by a group of men who were part of an X Spaces discussion titled ‘Male feminists’.
Around six men who were at the Spaces discussion on Wednesday, November 5, made abusive, misogynistic comments against Chinmayi and another woman, Yashaswini P, for their feminist views. One of them said that children of feminist women should die right after they’re born, because feminists are “normalising divorce” which would lead the kids to suffer, according to him.
The discussion seems to have been around a recent remark in an interview by Chinmayi’s husband and director Rahul Ravindran, while promoting his upcoming film The Girlfriend. Rahul said in an interview that he had told Chinmayi after their marriage that it was her choice whether or not to wear a mangalsutra. He also said he suggested not wearing it, as men are not expected to wear any visible markers of being married.
Yashaswini had replied to a X user criticising Rahul’s remark. When the user abused Rahul and said he should also get pregnant because that is also “a sign of a married woman”, Yashaswini merely replied on November 4 saying pregnancy was biological and a mangalsutra wasn’t.
“Why are you so rattled? pregnancy is biological thali (mangalsutra or nuptial chain) is literally not???” Yashaswini wrote.
During the Spaces discussion, a part of which Yashaswini recorded and shared, the men are heard using misogynistic abuses towards her and Chinmay. Yashaswini said she was only listening and didn’t even participate in the discussion, when the men were heard asking her to “take off her clothes to prove if she was a woman.” One of them also said she should study instead of attending Spaces, else she would end up “living on a man’s income”.
One of them, with the username Charan Reddy, said, “None of these (feminist) women should become mothers. Even if they have children, they should die immediately. These whores don’t have the right to have children. They get married, get divorced, and the kids end up suffering. Do you know to what extent they are normalising divorce?”
When someone mentioned Chinmayi, the user said, “Chinmayi is also a whore.”
Chinmayi reported the Spaces recording to Commissioner Sajjanar, along with the user handles of the men involved. However, most of the accounts were immediately deactivated.
Addressing the Commissioner of Hyderabad, Chinmayi said, “Please take cognisance of this. I am sick and tired of this everyday abuse and women deserve better in Telangana. If they dont like an opinion they can ignore and leave. I am happy to file a complaint and even if this case takes 15 years let law take its course. These men are basically saying my kids should die. Please help.”
With the Commissioner acknowledging Chinmayi’s post, the singer said she would proceed to lodge a formal complaint.
