A 16-year-old queer artist from Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain named Pranshu died by suicide after a string of hateful and homophobic comments on his profile. The news was shared by Made In Heaven actor Trinetra Haldar through a long and furious post.
Sharing a picture of Pranshu, Haldar angrily wrote- “Can’t stop crying all day today. This is Pranshu (@glamitupwithpranshu), a sixteen year old queer child from MP who lost their life to suicide. Self taught makeup artist, so much grace, so beautiful. They posted a Diwali reel in a saree like so many of us did. After all, the online space is safer than the real world for so many of us. But is it, though? 4000+ hate comments on their reel. The number of profiles, educated or otherwise, dedicated to humiliating queer and trans folk – profiles that never get taken down – is absurd.”
He added, “The hashtag #JusticeForPranshu shows no posts, because some apparently violate community guidelines. There have been times I’ve reported profiles spewing absolute and pure hate with 60k+ followers personally to Meta folks we know. They don’t get taken down. Are we happy now? A child is gone. Just like that. So, so angry. How many more queer children do we lose?”
Pranshu’s mother Preeti Yadav reacts
“Why is no attention being paid to the fact that a 16-year-old faced hate comments online for doing something they not only loved, but were also good at? This negativity needs to be checked and curtailed.”
Police investigation
“The police have taken the statements of their father Rajendra Yadav, and other family members and neighbours,” Nagziri police station in-charge Kamal Singh Gehlot told reporters.
Queer representation in Indian cinema continues to get more mature and nuanced but the outlook on social media still remains severely problematic and puerile.