Kochi: Christy Evart, a single mother of two children in Kerala's Kochi, knows what it is to be lost in the labyrinth of Internet. Her photos are being shared online as those of the woman who took on Sangh Parivar activists during a pro-CAA meet at a temple in Pavakkulam in Kochi recently. This is at a time when she was slowly recuperating from the trauma of facing allegations of being part of an online sex racket.
Christy, who works as a commission agent with some used car sellers and loan agencies, found herself in trouble recently after she came to know about some of her old photos being used as the profile pictures of a Facebook account called Anjitha Umesh, who apparently doesn't exist. This account, which used to post pro-Left and anti-RSS/BJP posts and comments, went viral after the Pavakkulam incident wherein a woman stood up to protest during a pro-CAA meeting recently. While some pro-Left social media users promoted the account as that of the brave Comrade Anjitha, Sangh Parivar supporters unleashed a hate campaign against the woman. The Sangh smear campaign received the much-desired ammo as they dug out a news published by a Malayalam website about a woman threatening a man who had refused to pay her for sex after fixing an appointment. The news article carried photos of Christy downloaded from Facebook. The report identified the woman as Neethu. Christy said it was her provoked answer to a call that led to the first round of troubles, but that's a different story, according to her.
Christy had to cut her hair, shift her rented house and sell her scooter after the episode.
Now, she has filed a complaint with the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Ernakulam, demanding action against those who have been misusing her photos after the Pavakkulam incident. She told Onmanorama on Monday that she has not received any reply from the police yet. Ernakulam North police on Monday confirmed to Onmanorama that they have received the complaint.
In her complaint, Christy has named one Jalaja Sreenivas Acharya for sharing her images in a defaming manner. Jalaja is identified as a member of the BJP's district committee in her Facebook profile.
“The post was removed barely half an hour after I filed the complaint,” Christy said. Jiyal Jamal, the lawyer who brought to Christy's attention the misuse of her photos, said a person called Kaimal was adamant not to remove the photos despite informing him about the truth behind the pictures. He later removed the photos after Christy contacted him.
Christy said it was too late to find out where all her photos have gone.
“I decided to file a complaint after I sensed danger seeing the communal colour of the posts. I have nothing against any particular religion,” she said.
Number in Locanto
Christy's trouble with the cyber world began nine months ago after someone allegedly posted a number used by her 15-year-old son, who is deaf and mute, in Classified website Locanto. She started receiving several calls seeking sexual favours after that.
She said it was her provoked answer to one such call that led to a series of troubles including the report in the website. Though there was a case over the calls, it was settled amicably, it is learnt. She said the police did not act despite identifying the person who posted her number in Locanto.
“This time I thought I should come out and speak as I feared the misuse of my photos would affect the future of my children too,” she said.
Christy refuses to show her face to the media as she fears that her new photos could also be misused.
