Thiruvananthapuram: Women and child development minister Bindu Krishna has said that a photograph of her was taken from an obscene angle and posted online during a school function on July 6 in Kollam, raising serious concerns over women’s safety and online abuse.Bindu told reporters in New Delhi that, at the function, a man started zooming in on her body on his mobile phone and taking photos. People standing behind him noticed it and stopped him. However, the images, showing only her body, were posted online on his social media account. “It didn’t have my face,” she said.Someone took screenshots and alerted the school management as he was a staff member, she added. Terming the incident a serious women’s safety issue, Krishna said it showed how vulnerable women were in public spaces and on online platforms.“If this can happen to a minister, what will be the situation of ordinary women and schoolchildren?” she asked.She said such incidents should not be dismissed as isolated acts, as they reflected the larger problem of women being targeted, objectified and harassed, even at public events.The minister called for greater vigilance and accountability to prevent the misuse of mobile phones and social media platforms to harass women.She also said that the state govt will view seriously the online platforms that objectify women and may explore the possibility of passing a law to take action.
