Social media and its impact on our personal space is nothing new. Being able to express one’s opinion at any public networking site comes from free will. However, the rate at which it grabs attention adds to the credibility of the platform.
A notable singer from Tamil Nadu Chinmayi Sripaada called out the phenomenon of online abuse and advocated for the cause of those who fall prey to this menace.
Recently, a woman techie from Chennai, whose child was rescued from a balcony by other mates of a residential complex, ‘succumbed’ to online abuse [the singer’s post signifies] which forced her to take her own life.
Sripaada on Sunday night took to social media to question the collective conscience of the society and the trolls of shaming the toddler’s parents.
A video of a child rescued from a balcony by other residents in an apartment complex went viral a few days ago. Everyone ended up shaming the mother in all the pages that the video was posted in. Turns out that the mother of the baby has now killed herself.
“This society actually votes murderers, rapists and molesters to power and pays tickets to watch them perform. But doesn’t miss a beat in driving a woman to death. Enna oru kalacharam. Enna oru samudaayam (which can be loosely translated into: what a culture. What a society.)(sic),” she wrote on X, from her verified account, sharing a news article, which ran her post.
In another post, she named one of the handles and tagged it as having shamed the parents and all those who followed suit in comments to blame the parents. She added that now they can celebrate “since the mother of this child has now killed herself”.
In a turn of events, the incident has given rise to the concerns of choosing death over life in an attempt to escape from problems that come as part of the parcel of life.
“Whatever happened is unfortunate... but you can’t kill yourself leaving an innocent kid alone in this world... no shame… no pain... nothing can justify this step of a mother. A mother can’t do that… this is unforgivable imo(sic),” a user replied to one of the posts.
Chinmayi snapped at the user by replying, “You have absolutely no idea how much mass shaming feels like. Better not to get on a high horse”.
“It seems like you’re highlighting some of the negative aspects of society, which is important to acknowledge. Have you ever thought about balancing your posts with positive news as well? It might help provide a more rounded perspective on things(sic),” another user wrote to Chinmayi.
On April 28, a seven-month-old toddler was rescued after he crawled out to the sunshade from the balcony of his second floor residence in an apartment complex in Chennai.
After the video of the incident went viral, the woman techie and her husband, who is also employed in the software industry, visited the woman’s maternal home in Coimbatore.
On May 18, the woman techie’s family who returned after attending a family event found her unresponsive. They moved her to a hospital in the vicinity, where the doctors declared her “brought dead”.
The body has been moved to Mettupalayam Government hospital for a postmortem examination. A case has been registered by Coimbatore Police.
Suicide can never be a solution. One can reach out to friends, family relatives for help. If one is having suicidal thoughts, or are worried about a friend or need emotional support, someone is always there to listen.
There are organisations, which act as helplines for people to reach out to them to avoid suicidal thoughts. This includes Sneha Foundation - 04424640050 (available 24x7) or iCall, the Tata Institute of Social Sciences’ helpline – 9152987821 and many more.
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