“Mumbai Police informed me that my complaint has been forwarded to DCP Cyber Cell Rashmi Karandikar, who is looking into the matter. This is the only update since yesterday,” Ayyub told ThePrint.
‘Inundated with rape and death threats’
Hosted by The Scoop Beats’ employees Vidyanshi Dwivedi and Mannu Sahu, the nearly 11-minute video was uploaded Wednesday, days after Ayyub had tweeted in support of Yemeni civilians, and criticised Saudi Arabia’s government for its military actions in Yemen over the course of the latter’s civil war since 2015.
Ayyub had also argued with Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi over this issue.
In her complaint, Ayyub stated, “[The Scoop Beats] have used a photoshopped tweet in the background that says ‘I hate India and I hate Indians’. This fake news has led to a barrage of hate against me…My timeline has been inundated with rape and death threats. I and my family are in imminent danger.”
The Scoop Beats has published a sarcastic apology in response to Ayyub’s tweets, stating that everything they had said was “true”
Ayyub also brought to the police’s attention the Bulli Bai app, on which she was “auctioned” by online trolls alongside other Muslim women earlier this month. She also referred to the UN special rapporteurs’ 2018 appeal to the Indian government to “protect” Ayyub from threats, and to her presence on Katherine Love’s 2021 list of the world’s 10 most threatened journalists.
“Ayyub has long been the target of online harassment and misinformation campaigns in response to her commentary and reporting,” Love wrote for Forbes.
Ayyub also revealed that she had tested positive for Covid-19, and was currently in isolation with high fever, rendering her unable to go to the police station in person.
This story first appeared on theprint.in