Devoleena Bhattacharjee: We must raise our voice against cyberbullies

The actor says the mentality they have needs to be reformed

It was a frightening moment for actor Devoleena Bhattacharjee, who received death threats on social media last month for supporting actor Rashami Desai in her fight against her ex-boyfriend Arhaan Khan. The actor immediately raised her voice by not only filing a police complaint but also tweeting about it.  

“It is necessary to complain because blocking them is not a solution. Trolls can easily make a separate account to continue to bully you. This woman was not from India and she was trolling many other people, not just me. But after filing the police complaint, and blocking her, I haven’t got any more such messages. I do get calls from the police station sometimes to update on this case,” she says.

Commenting on the recent Bois Locker Room incident, Bhattacharjee, feels that every person, who is facing threats and cyberbullying, should raise their voice.

“It’s important to expose such people and incidents. The mentality they have needs to be reformed and I wonder what kind of environment they have been brought up in. What’s the use for them to be on Twitter if they can’t do anything good? They only gang up to troll and spread negativity,” she says. 

And as if all this negativity wasn’t enough to shake her confidence, a Covid-19 case cropped up in her building last week. “The scariest aspect was that the house help, who used to work at my place, was also working at the Covid-19 positive patient’s house. He has been sent to self-quarantine at some other place. The entire building is sealed and we’re inside our house for a 14-day self-quarantine. Whenever I need something, I tell the guards, and they get it for me,” says the actor, 34.

While Bhattacharjee is grateful that she is safe and the virus didn’t spread any further, the fear of Covid-19 “always lurks in the head”.