New Delhi: Around a month ago, a 19-year-old student of Delhi University was subject to moral policing when an old woman took umbrage as she was taking selfies and shaking a leg with her friends in the metro.
The woman, who appeared to be a Haryanvi from the way she spoke Hindi, also body-shamed the girl identified as Sudeepa Mandal, by taunting over her short height, besides allegedly passing other demeaning remarks. The woman, whose name couldn’t be confirmed, allegedly even threatened to beat up Mandal.
Although the matter ended there, it came back to haunt Mandal after the video of the month-old incident went viral on social media two days ago.
Mandal became an object of ridicule, with people posting jokes and memes on her. The woman, on the other hand, was being hailed on social media as ‘Haryanvi tai‘, who is “protecting India’s culture”.
Haryana BJP’s IT cell member Arun Yadav was among those who hailed the woman.
आज सोशल मीडिया पर छाई रही हरियाणा की ताई।मेट्रो में आशिकों का भूत उतारने में माहिर।जय हो???? pic.twitter.com/XGpH9Y7L5s
— Arun Yadav (@beingarun28) November 16, 2019
‘Filed a police complaint’
Mandal told ThePrint she had filed a police complaint on 16 November against unknown persons for uploading the video on social media. “It caused me immense mental trauma,” she said.
Asked if she has filed a complaint against the woman, Mandal said she told police about all the things she told her in the metro.
Mandal claimed that the woman had even grabbed her by the hair that day. “In the video, it is clear that she is shouting at me and my friends, but she also grabbed my hair, which is not seen in the video. No one came forward to help me,” she told ThePrint.
“Due to the language she used, everyone was convinced that she had a narrow mindset and all my friends and other passengers told me to stay calm. Since she was an old woman, even my friends did not want to confront her,” said Mandal.
‘I often dance in the metro’
Speaking to ThePrint, Mandal said she had forgotten about the incident, but a relative called her Sunday and told her that her video is circulating on WhatsApp.
“One of my relatives called me and said that my video has surfaced on WhatsApp. For a while, I thought that one of my friends might have filmed the video. But when I logged in to my Instagram, Facebook and YouTube accounts, I found that the video has gone viral and people were writing bad things about me,” she said.
She is, however, happy that her family “is still by my side”.
Mandal, who stays in Noida, is pursuing BA from Delhi University. Every day, she takes the metro from Noida to go to her dance academy in Saket. According to Mandal, she often shakes a leg with her friends in the metro. She said it is her way of memorising the steps she learns at her dance academy.
Recounting the sequence of events that unfolded a month ago, she said, “We were taking selfies while rehearsing dance steps. Suddenly, she started shouting at us. Initially, I could not understand her language. Later, I realised that she was commenting on how I am roaming around with my friends. She also commented on my parents.
“I replied that I am over 18 years of age and my parents cannot be with me round-the-clock. As an argument ensued, we repeatedly said that we were sorry if she was offended by our gestures. But she didn’t stop shouting,” said Mandal, who lives with her mother.
After being trolled on social media, Mandal posted a video, saying she has great respect for senior citizens and that she was sorry if she had hurt the woman’s sentiments.
“Every year, my team and I organise special events for elderly people living in our neighbourhood. We perform especially for them,” she said in the video.
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If western culture is destroying you, then why u send ur childer to school, why not send them to farm. Don’t judge anyone untill you see the complete scenario. We Indian always make decisions by our imagination.
Even in the video that was too short to judge, the girl was not arrogant and listening calmly. Please refrain from being judgemental on short video clips.
Agree, that one should not rehearse dancing lessons in Metro, but she did no crime.
She mentioned 18 years+, just to convey that she can’t take her parents everywhere as she can travel alone.
There was no obscenity anywhere in the video. Delhi Metro need to publish full video.
Total fake is this mandal, characterless. Respect for the old lady. Some of this western nonsense is destroying our culture.