Kolkata: Bengali TV actor Shruti Das has filed a cyber complaint with the Kolkata Police on Thursday after being constantly targeted for her dusky skin tone on social media. She said that she had been shamed for her skin tone for the last two years but reached a point where she could not take it anymore as the attacks were being more and more personal. She told PTI, “Initially, everyone around asked me to ignore the trolls, and so did I. But it only got more vicious with time. I am in a steady relationship with the director of my first TV serial ‘Trinayani’, and the hate brigade, after getting to know that, has been making distasteful remarks, questioning my character and my talent. I thought if I take it lying down any further, it would only give them more reasons to continue with this hatred. Some of my seniors, who are now household names, have gone through similar predicaments for their complexion”
The 25-year-old actor also tagged Kolkata Police on her Facebook post as she revealed that she has taken the legal action against the trolls. She wrote, “Finally I’ve taken a legal action.. Thank you Kolkata Police. Still people like her will bark that I know.”
A senior police officer said that they are looking into the matter. The officer further added, “The cyber cell of the Kolkata Police has received an email from actor Shruti Das regarding the online abuse that she had been facing because of her dusky skin tone. The actor, in her complaint, has said she had been receiving such hatred since 2019. She has also attached screenshots of the social media comments.”
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Film and TV actor Parno Mitra said that it was a matter of shame that people are trolled over their skin tone in a country like India, where most of the people are brown. He added, “With the advertising world, media and film industries having glorified light skin colour for so long, it is but natural that this prejudice against skin colour still exists. Often, we are told to put on makeup in a way that would make our skin tone a few shades lighter. I usually avoid too much makeup.”