Manish Mishra (DNA; May 5, 2014)

Recently Esha Gupta tweeted, “My driver just told me that his 13-year-old daughter Jhansi has been teased by boys and they are threatening to throw acid on her. Anyone who can help?” Her tweet received response from singer Ramona Arena who put her in touch with DNA columnist and social commentator Suhel Seth. He immediately contacted ACP (ACB) Vishwas Nangare Patil.

Timely help
Says Ramona, “Riteish Deshmukh retweeted Esha’s tweet and so did I. Suhel responded immediately. Imagine the plight of a 13-year-old whose father is trying to make a living here. Twitter is a great tool and everyone can help and make the change. It’s great that SC is taking a stand on such a sensitive issue.” Later that day, things appeared in control when Esha tweeted, “Thank you for the help guys. My dad has somehow managed to file an FIR, but for further help will need ask again.”

A non-empathetic country
Suhel says, “The culprit was a community guy who was chasing her and she refused and so did her family. In fact, Esha called two to three TV channels but they refused to cooperate. Even on Twitter when I tweeted about it, there was not much response. Then I called Patil, who took charge of the situation and helped her. If she had contacted the cops, they would have said, ‘dekhenge’. This is the state of our country when Supreme Court has banned the sale of acid. People still think they can get away with anything. Our country is non-empathetic. When the courts pass harsh judgements, you have limousine liberals asking for the culprit’s rights. My question is, ‘What about the rights of the woman who’s been thrown acid on?’ It’s a heinous crime, you’ve left the victim alive and every minute of her life, she wishes she were dead because she becomes the subject of ridicule.”

Esha Gupta on how social media helped her book the culprit
“My driver told me that his daughter, who’s living in Jhansi was being teased by a 20-year-old guy, who also threatened to throw acid on her. My driver’s wife is paralysed from waist below and their son is just eight-years-old, still he did not ask for leave. Helplessly, he just told me he didn’t know what to do. A little girl was involved and being a woman, I could understand the pain and terror she must have gone through. My family is not connected politically so I thought going through the social media was the best way to ask for help. I tweeted about it, and VJ Ramona put me through to Suhel Seth and he gave me top cop Vishwas Patil’s number. When I called him, he asked to speak to the driver. He then put in a word, and a FIR was filed against the guy. I must say the cops have been very nice and prompt. Some people felt that it’s because of my celebrity status, but I don’t agree. Some told me that instead of tweeting I should have filed a complaint. However, living in Mumbai it’s not possible as the incident happened in Jhansi. Also, my father who is in Delhi was trying his best to file a case, though he did not know anyone in Jhansi. Social media has made things accessible today. If you voice yourself a little more, such heinous crimes can be averted. For instance, within two hours of tweeting, the matter was sorted. Also, I think the guy has been arrested because when I asked my driver if he wants to visit his family, he said no, but was at ease.”

As told to Chaya Unnikrishnan