Cyber-bullying case against Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia's grandson

Shreyas with Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia

An argument on a Facebook post took an ugly turn when Shreyas Chaurasia (25), Padma Vibhushan flautist Hariprasad Chaurasia's grandson, allegedly sent sexually abusive messages to a woman on December 19. "The victim has shown us screenshots where the accused used abusive language with her. Also, after checking his Facebook profile, we found that he had put a picture with Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia; so, we have a feeling that it's him (the accused). But investigations are on. We will soon take action," said a police officer.

On December 19, the conversation started on a post that said ‘Saudi Arabia holding a women's rights conference, without a single women attendee' posted by one Indrajeet Keer, who is Shreyas's friend and the victim's ex-colleague's friend.

She commented on the post, mentioning a similar situation, saying, ‘It's just like the day when muslims protested against triple talaaq, saying women are against it, but the march didn't have a single woman, they were all men, ha ha ha' (sic). Disagreeing with her, Shreyas said she was spreading hatred; slowly, the argument escalated and Shreyas started sending the victim personal messages.

Raising a voice
"I don't know this guy, we are not even friends, he is a friend's friend's friend, because of which the post appeared on my wall. In the personal chats, he not only threatened me of abduction through his political connections, but also said that I'm a girl and should know my limits and ‘aukaad'," said the victim.

"Till when will girls sit and be victims of cyber bullying? Every time a girl raises her voice, a man's ego gets bruised. I'm not a celebrity or struggling actress/model, I'm a working professional. I don't need cheap publicity, but I'm raising my voice only so that other girls are motivated to come out with their abuse. I didn't use any kind of threat, I just said don't talk to me, to which he is talking about rape, abduction and sending goons to my house who can ‘calm me down' from my ‘garmi' among several other abusive messages. It's time we stop taking all this lightly."

A string of abuses
Shreyas, who is in Kenya at the moment, told mid-day, "I had no business with her, but her anti-Muslim behaviour and wrong comments and judgments on things pissed me off. I had dropped her a decent message saying she should accept, but she started abusing me first. I wrote things to her which I shouldn't have, but it was to pull her down."

The victim said that though Shreyas started by saying that he has nothing against her, in the personal chat, he got angry when she asked him to ‘F'''k off'.

"After the argument, he sent a personal message saying I'm spreading hatred. He was not even in the conversation on the post. He came in between and started - why should I not voice my opinion? Everyone else is, why should only I lower my voice? There are several other men, who aren't," she added.

"I agree with my mistake, I was too harsh, but I didn't mean it," said Shreyas.

Shreyas's sister Shruti Chaurasia Nag, a doctor, said, "My brother has done something very wrong, I accept it, but at the same time, he is also somebody who respects women a lot. It's all in the heat of the moment, and frustration talking."

"It was a casual post regarding Muslims that I had shared. Because it was a public post, a lot of people commented. It was a healthy debate but soon turned aggressive, so I asked everyone to calm down and I deleted all the negative comments. Regarding Shreyas's abuses, I think all that just came out in anger. He is not the kind of guy who would fight unnecessarily. I spoke to him, he apologised and is regretting his words," said Keer.

Family tree
Shreyas is the son of Vinay Chaurasia, Pandit Chaurasia's son from his first wife Kamla Devi. Reports say that the celebrated flautist is now married to Anuradha ‘Angurbala' Roy.

An FIR under sections 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) and 506 (criminal intimidation) was registered on Tuesday at JB Nagar police station.