Several Bollywood celebrities have been on the receiving end of people's wrath and criticism following the suicide of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput.

Although there isn't definitive proof as to what led to the actor's suicide, people have been accusing celebrities who have been promoting nepotism, believing that Sushant decided to take the extreme step as he was considered an outsider by the star kids of Bollywood. People have continued to harass celebrities, including Karan Johar, Alia Bhatt, and Sonam Kapoor, etc, to the point where they had to restrict their comments section to just a particular few. Despite taking such steps to avoid online abuse, Alia Bhatt, among other female celebrities, has apparently received rape and death threats via DM on Instagram.

Alia Bhatt's sister Shaheen Bhatt took to her Instagram account to share the screenshots of the abusive messages, talking about the plight of women in a society like ours. She wrote in a long post, "Does this surprise you? Why? It doesn't surprise me. We live in a country that seems to relish nothing more than rendering people powerless. A country that relishes "putting people in their place" or showing them their "aukad". And who better to put in their place than a woman? A country where rather than being raised on empathy, most people are raised with explicit permission to hate. A country where a woman is either your mother, your sister, your wife or a w***e. A country where not just men, but women feel like the worst thing you can call another woman is a slut."

Stating that abusers tend to shame women and humiliate them and also somehow manage to make them believe that it is their problem, Shaheen Bhatt added, "Because what better way to render a woman powerless than to make her ashamed of being a woman. Ashamed of being herself. Because if she weren't a woman would she still be debased, humiliated and threatened with violence and violation every day? Would she so casually be robbed of her security and sense of agency? You see. It's a genius. You abuse her. Yet, you try to convince her the problem is her. Not you."

Speaking of the legal route she plans to take if the harassment continues, Shaheen mentioned, "So, I speak now to those of you who think it's okay to send me or anyone messages full of hate. If you send me a message with the sole hope (I say hope because I promise you-nothing you say is keeping me up at night) of humiliating, insulting, or bullying me, then the following things will happen: -The message or comment will first be blocked and reported to Instagram directly. –You will forfeit the right to your privacy. I will NOT protect your identity. Every shitty message you send me will-should I choose to-go up for everyone to see. Abusers are emboldened by their anonymity. I will not help hide you. – I WILL use all legal recourse available to me to take action. If you think you can’t be located because your account is anonymous, please think again-IP addresses are easily trackable. YOU are not invisible. Harassment is a crime."

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@shaheenb's gut-wrenching post on rape threats she had been receiving, will make you think twice about the society we live in! . . . . . . #shaheenbhatt #aliabhatt #maheshbhatt #lockdown #unlock #covid19 #coronavirus #bollywood #entertainment #mumbai #celebs #staysafe #india #desimartinimovies #desimartini

A post shared by Desimartini Movies (@desimartinimovies) on Jul 13, 2020 at 10:50pm PDT