Acid attack survivor Laxmi Agarwal was also among many on social media to condemn popular TikTok star Faizal Siddique, who was accused of promoting acid attack on women with his video.
In the clip he can be heard saying "Usne tumhe chhod dia? Jiske liye tumne Mujhe chhoda tha..." and throws the water on the girl's face.
However, when Laxmi weighed in on the issue on TikTok itself, the platform allegedly put her video on mute. Agarwal shared the news on her Instagram page and wrote, “Wah tik tok ne meri awaj hi band kar diya, sahi baat ke liye jab awaj uthai jati hai to awaj hi band kar di jati hai, mere pass Anthony ne ye video bheja save thaa unake phone me wahh tik tok isah liye crime badh rahe hai sahi chizo par baat karna hi mushkil kar diya jata hai.”
On Monday, in a video message the NCW Head Rekha Sharma said: "I came across a social media post which said, a man named Faizal Siddiqui uploaded a video which appeared to be glorifying acid attack. Taking cognizance of the matter, I have written to the Director General of Police in Maharashtra to take action."
Sharma further said, the commission also wrote to Anuj Bhatia, Grievance Officer at TikTok India, that the video be removed immediately, and the person's ID be blocked.
"After I wrote to TikTok, the video was removed but I want such people should not be given any space on any social media platform who promote crime against women. The Commission is seriously concern about the increase in crimes against women, and the video not only seems to promote violence against women but also shows the patriarchal mindset. The Commission asked for a detailed action taken report be sent at earliest," said Sharma.
Laxmi expressed her gratitude for the stand taken by NCW. She wrote on Instagram, “Thanks to National Commission for Women for taking cognizane of the viral video by TikTok ‘influencer’ Faizal Siddiqui promoting acid attack.Such videos/actions should be strictly debarred which are against the society.”
“We are working day and night to stop the acid attacks, violence against women. This cringe activity is not called influencing but promoting crime. Such persons are curse to our society. So it is important to ban such videos and accounts from the social media. Come forward-we urge you to stop acid violence-Stop Sale Acid”, she added.
Meanwhile, the ratings of TikTok on Google’s Playstore have dropped to a staggering 2 stars in a period of 3 days. Currently the app holds over 2 Billion downloads worldwide of which 611 million are from India.
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