Bengali Actor Shruti Das Approaches Police Over Online Hate for Skin-Tone

Shruti Das approached the cyber cell for online hate comments about her 'dusky tone'.

Bengali actor Shruti Das, who currently plays the lead in the TV show Desher Maati, has approached the cyber police with complaints against online hate comments about her complexion.

She decided to file a complaint because she refused to take the 'abusive comments' lying down. “I thought if I take it lying down any further, it would only give them more reasons to continue with this hatred,” she told PTI.

She also opened up about facing online hate about her 'dusky complexion'. She shared that she had been attacked for her skin tone for close to two years now. In a Facebook post, she tagged the Kolkata Police, to show them the comments. In response, she was asked to email the cyber cell.

"People also feel I have made some compromises to bag a role or forced someone to cast me...Name calling has been a part of my life. Recently someone called me a 'black board'...I am tired of being judged for my skin tone. I am a human too. Though I have been thinking about taking legal action since Desher Maati started, I finally made up my mind and filed it yesterday."

Shruti Das, Bengali actor

A senior officer said, “The cyber cell of the Kolkata Police has received an email from actor Shruti Das regarding the online abuse that she had been facing because of her dusky skin tone. The actor, in her complaint, has said she had been receiving such hatred since 2019."

The officer complained that the actor attached screenshots of the comments in her email. Its yet to be confirmed if an FIR has been registered. Das added that the online hate is not a one-off thing and many of her seniors in the field have also faced similar hate.

Film and TV actor Parno Mitra, told the Indian Express, "With the advertising world, media and film industries having glorified light skin colour for so long, it is but natural that this prejudice against skin colour still exists. Often, we are told to put on makeup in a way that would make our skin tone a few shades lighter."