kathmandu, 26 June: A few days ago, singer Samikshya Adhikari publicly shared the Facebook profile of a person who had behaved inappropriately toward her on social media. After she exposed the account and comments made under the name Ashok Koirala, the individual sent her a message apologizing.
Samikshya then posted a screenshot of the apology message and informed her followers that she had forgiven the person and removed the original post.
She wrote: “I couldn’t step outside the bounds of forgiveness, so I forgave him. But to others — before you try to define someone else’s character, take a moment to understand yourself. I am someone who has risen through struggles, and those who try to bring others down must remember — you may end up falling too.”
Since she began making such posts, those who had been posting vulgar and offensive comments about her have started to back off. However, although the frequency has decreased, inappropriate comments have not stopped entirely.
Singer Elina Chauhan has also followed in the footsteps of Samikshya Adhikari, adopting the same approach starting Wednesday. According to Elina, who has been facing cyber abuse for a long time, the situation became unbearable this time. She said, “I might be able to endure it, but what impact does it have on my mother and family?”
When Samikshya began exposing abusive profiles, Elina had hoped that such comments toward her would stop — but that didn’t happen. She became deeply troubled by inappropriate remarks linking her to her divorce or ex-husband. In response, Elina has begun regularly exposing the profiles of individuals making vulgar comments on social media. She shared that since taking this step, about 80 percent of the negative comments have stopped.
Samikshya also stated that she was compelled to go public with the profiles when the situation became intolerable. “How long are we supposed to keep tolerating this? It went too far. I’ve exposed those trying to add to the pain through hateful posts on Facebook,” she said.
Elina has recently started sharing not only negative comments but also positive reactions on her social media. “I’m also selecting and posting good comments,” she said. “It motivates people. It sends a message that society doesn’t consist only of negativity—there are good people too.”
Not just Samikshya and Elina, but many other female celebrities have also faced similar abuse. Some time ago, actress Saugat Pant became a target of cyberattacks simply for expressing her opinion in a thoughtful manner. She was bombarded with gender-based slurs, obscene, and vulgar remarks on social media. Before that, actress Deepashree Niraula also faced online abuse after voicing her views.
The trend of publicly exposing abusers’ profiles was initially started by actress Richa Sharma. When she posted in support of actress Pant, Richa herself received abusive comments and threatening, explicit messages.
After Richa began revealing those posts and messages along with the users’ profiles, she began receiving a stream of apology videos and messages. Some even pleaded, saying, “If you don’t remove it, I’ll take my own life—my career will be ruined,” she said. Richa stated that she forgave those who sincerely apologized and subsequently removed the posts.
If someone faces abuse on social media, they can file a complaint at the police’s Cyber Bureau. However, according to Elina, such complaints rarely lead to real action, which is why many celebrities don’t trust the system. “Even when you report to Cyber, they don’t seem to care. Maybe they think, how many people can they really arrest?” she said. “Since I couldn’t get help from there, I’ve decided to fight this battle on my own.”
Elina pointed out that such abusive behavior is more commonly directed toward women than men. “There are many male artists who are divorced too, but I’ve never seen anyone make such comments about them. It seems women face this more,” she added. “How long are we supposed to tolerate this? Fake accounts are created to post edited photos with my ex-husband, claiming we got back together. They make vulgar comments, or link me with someone new and call him my new husband. How long will this character assassination continue?”
