New Delhi: Days after a 15-year-old girl posted an emotional video apologising for verbally abusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the CJP-led protest at Jantar Mantar, X handles began to share two images of her—a still from her apology video, and another of her hurling abuses in front of phone cameras. Breaking down features of her face to predict her age using “AI”, they claimed it was a case of a 25-year-old woman using her little sister “to gain sympathy”.
Every inch of her face was analysed. The posts zoomed in on her eyes, ears, her dental features and “nasal bridge”. One post said “Subject A shows full adult skeletal maturity”, while “Subject B shows pedomorphic (child-like) features”.
There is no sister, elder or younger. The girl only has a younger brother, who is 12.
Hounded by threats of rape, murder and acid attacks by the minute, the 15-year-old, her widowed mother and her younger brother, left their Greater Noida residence in the cover of the night in their slippers, telling no one where they were headed.
A teenager, who was excitedly waiting for her birthday, and is set to give her 10th board exams this year, has not opened a book, or attended school in the past 10 days.
“The online and offline mob has driven us out of our home. She has apologised to the country, what more is left?” her mother told ThePrint over the phone. “This is a child who has made a mistake, will we ruin her entire future? In the last 5-10 days, we have been through hell.”
“Every single person is coming to me, and questioning me as a mother, questioning how I have raised her? If I taught her abusive language?” she added.
It all started when that one video of the girl taken at the CJP-led protest went viral and took a life of its own. The outrage was swift, and savage. Several social media accounts shared and reshared the clip, and a zero FIR was registered. “Her parents should be ashamed of themselves for parenting like this,” said one X user. “Who wants to slap this girl? Get in line,” wrote another.
On Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a late-night video message posted on Instagram, said that “some mischievous youngsters had hurled vile abuses” at Jantar Mantar, some which were directed at him as well as his late mother.
Seeing “daughters” use such language came as a “cultural shock”, he further said, but added that he wants to forgive these children, as “punishing them, dragging them through court proceedings, or harassing them in society will not change the situation”.
Also Read: Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata—women are facing ugly pushback after CJP protests
‘Was waiting to celebrate her birthday’
The teenager’s mother, who works as a tuition teacher, said her daughter’s birthday was on 1 August, and she had been extremely excited to celebrate with her friends and family before the online and offline harassment began.
“On 23 July, she had told me she was going to Connaught Place to shop for her birthday. She had gone with her friends. When she reached near the protest site, she found people of her age, so she just participated in the protest…”
The mother said her daughter had given a video byte where she had used “abusive language”.
In her apology video, the 15-year-old said: “I went to Connaught Place with my friends in July. We came across a group of people who were using abusive and objectionable language against the Prime Minister. They influenced me and encouraged me to repeat those words, and I did.”
She added, “I am not able to look anyone in the eye. I appeal to the entire country and everyone to please forgive me. I am only 15 years old. This is my first and last mistake, and I will never repeat such an act again.”
After the apology, the “facial analysis” began on social media. “There are people claiming that it is her younger sister who has made the apology, they are saying I have hidden my daughter. This is bizarre, why would any mother throw her child into this vicious cycle of threats?” the teen’s mother said.
She stopped going to school
In the last few days, the family has undergone immense trauma, said the girl’s mother, adding that the statements she has heard have left her and her daughter deeply disturbed. “There are so many politicians who have used abusive language in the Parliament. Maybe we should ask, where are the children learning these abusive words from?”
She added: “People are asking my neighbours, my family, there are black cars outside my society, we were forced to leave in the dark of the night so nobody follows us…all we left with were our slippers, a single piece of cloth…my daughter keeps asking me…when will we return to our normal lives…”
Her daughter has stopped going to school out of fear. “All she reads is the kind of threats she is getting. The language of most of these messages is disgusting. No mother deserves to see this for their child…even my child has read that…and I cannot imagine how brave she is being…” said her mother, and asked: “Why have these threats become normalised?”
She says, while an FIR was registered for what her daughter said, and she should be punished for what she did, “why have the social media accounts that abused my child being let off? Are they not the ones who are using social media to create more fear, by using such abusive words…”
The teenager wants to be a makeup artist someday. “My daughter wanted to be famous, but today, future looks pale. My child has been made a villain in this country…and she doesn’t deserve this…she deserves guidance…”
‘Never be scared of protesting’
Though what transpired in the last few days has left the family shaken, the mother—who lost her husband in 2019—said that the first thing she told her daughter was “she should never be scared of protesting”.
“I need my daughter to realise that what she said was wrong, but she should never be scared of protesting. She should stand up for her rights, she should fight for students across the country,” said the mother, who gives tuition for a living.
No matter what transpires in the next few weeks, she will stand up for her daughter, she added. “I will hold her hand. I will make sure I protect her from whatever is coming our way. Both of us will fight. This is my child.”
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
Also Read: Photos of women from CJP protests morphed, circulated. They’re facing arrest calls
