Singer Chinmayi Sripada files complaint over her morphed photo, alleges death threats to children
Singer Chinmayi Sripada reported receiving a morphed nude image of herself and escalated the matter to the authorities. She revealed that online abuse intensified after her husband, Rahul Ravindran, commented on mangalsutra, leading to the threats.
Singer and dubbing artiste Chinmayi Sripada is known for sharing her honest opinion on the most pressing matters. On Wednesday, December 10, she posted a morphed photo of herself sent by a troll and revealed how she was being harassed online.
In an X (formerly Twitter) post, Chinmayi escalated the incident to Hyderabad City Police Commissioner VC Sajjanar and released a video addressing the online threats she has been receiving in recent weeks.
Chinmayi Sripada receives death threats
Chinmayi explained that the hostility intensified after her husband, filmmaker-actor Rahul Ravindran, made a comment about mangalasutra a few weeks ago. Since then, she revealed, the trolling against her and her family has increased manifold. Sharing a blurred morphed image and a video of herself online, the singer wrote, "I got a morphed image from a page today and tagged the cops - whether legal action happen will happen or not is not the issue. But I made this video for girls and their families to safeguard against the ‘Lanja Munda’ spewing people here who have been paid to do this for the past 8-10 weeks to harass our family (sic)."
In her video message, she stated, “I have been abused, my children have been given death threats, I have filed a police complaint against a few on the Twitter Spaces who said that the kind of women they don’t like shouldn’t ever have children, and if they do, their children must die. There were men applauding and laughing at this.”
Chinmayi added that she has been repeatedly targeted ever since she spoke out about harassment by a lyricist. “A lot of people have abused me; they have been paid for by political groups. There was a particular Tweet today that shared a morphed photo of me in the nude. I am sharing so women know these kinds of things happen, men do this to push us out of public spaces,” she said.
"This is going to be very, very common in the future, where men have always used technology, power to defame women that they don't like. Earlier, they used to call them witches, black magicians, and prostitutes. Then if they wanted a women and didn't get her then they would make rumours about her so that her life is miserable. This has always been the way of society."
Warning that the rise of deepfakes and AI will put more women at risk from those who disagree with them or seek revenge, she made her stance clear. Chinmayi also urged women, girls and parents not to hesitate to pursue legal action if they encounter similar harassment.
What did Chinmayi Sripada's husband Rahul Ravindran say?
Director-actor Rahul Ravindran, during the promotions of The Girlfriend in November, made a comment on mangalsutra that didn't go down well with a section of social media users. He said, "After our marriage, I told my wife Chinmayi that it was her choice whether to wear mangalsutra or not. I even suggested not wearing it, because it’s unfair that men have no visible sign of being married, while women are expected to have one."
Chinmayi Sripada, ever since, has been silencing the trolls on X.
Also read: Ramayana: Chinmayi Sripada defends Ranbir Kapoor as his old video goes viral, know whole matter here