'Bullied' for her Facebook post on menstrual taboo, 18-year-old files complaint

(Representational image)

New Delhi: A poem posted on the Facebook page of an 18-year-old Keralite law student has subjected her to cyberbullying, allegedly by right-wing groups. The reason? The poem was about taboos attached to menstruation.

The student, Navami Ramachandran, from Mallappally in Pathanamthitta district, complained against the act saying that the abusers alleged that the poem on a menstruating goddess hurt their religious sentiments.

She claimed she received threats on social media.

An activist of the Students Federation of India, the teenager posted the poem to extend support to another youngster who had also faced a similar threat for speaking out on menstruation on social media.

Navami alleged that even her school-going sister was not spared and was threatened by a group of unidentified people earlier this week.

A few bike-borne persons, with their faces obscured by masks, threatened Lekshmi, her younger sister, she alleged in another post.

"Taking into account other recent incidents, there is no doubt that the RSS was behind the act," Navami alleged.

Based on a complaint by her family about the alleged attack on Lekshmi, police registered a case and began a probe.

The natural process of menstruation is considered 'taboo' and 'impure' in many places around India.

There are numerous social stigmas attached to when a girl is going through 'that time of the month'.

(With PTI inputs)