New Delhi, April 19 (TNS): An Indian journalist and cartoonist, who has received online threats over a cartoon that refers to recent incident of rape of a Muslim minor girl, says she will not back down.
Swathi Vadlamudi’s cartoon depicts a conversation between Hindu god Ram and his wife, Sita, to criticise right-wing support for the accused.
In the cartoon, Sita tells Ram she is “glad” she was kidnapped by demon king Ravan and not her husband’s followers.
Ms Vadlamudi said the threats have only made her “stronger”.
The illustration has been shared by thousands on social media, but her use of the characters from the Hindu epic Ramayana in the cartoon has sparked controversy.
Ms Vadlamudi told BBC Telugu’s Prithvi Raj that drawing satirical cartoons was a hobby of hers.
She said the illustration was meant to condemn two gruesome incidents of rape which made national headlines last week.
An eight-year-old Muslim girl from Kathua district in Indian-occupied Kashmir was brutally gang raped and murdered – outrage grew after two ministers from the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) attended a rally in support of the accused men, who are Hindu.
Courtesy: BBC
