Anasuya Files Police Complaint Against Online Abuse

Hyderabad: Tollywood actress and TV anchor Anasuya Bharadwaj has lodged a complaint against 42 persons, which includes film producers, journalists, television channels and social media influencers, accusing them of being involved in online abuse, criminal intimidation, defamation and circulation of morphed and AI-created sexually-explicit content.

According to the First Information Report (FIR) registered on Tuesday, the actress said that she became the target of an online attack after she presented her views on women's clothing on December 20, after another actor Shivaji made derogatory comments on the same issue.

During the pre-release event of his upcoming film ‘Dhandoraa’, Shivaji had urged actresses to wear saris and traditional attire, and added that beauty lay in not “displaying physical assets.”

Bharadwaj alleged that soon after the day, multiple persons, social media users, content creators, television anchors and online platforms began amplifying abusive content against her.

She stated that her images and videos were edited using AI tools and turned into sexually explicit content. The content was circulated across most platforms such as YouTube, Instagram and X without her consent.

The actress alleged that the content included obscene commentary, character assassination, defamatory statements and direct threats to her life and family. She said that several videos zoomed in on her body parts, cropped certain visuals in a derogatory manner and used abusive language, amounting to voyeurism and sexual harassment.

Stating that the harassment had severely affected her “sense of safety, livelihood and access to public life,” the complainant said she was living in “constant fear of physical harm”. A case has been registered under Sections 75, 79, 336(4), 351, 356 of the BNS, and 66-E, 67 of the IT Act.