Kannada actor gets targeted online, troller later comments, ‘I’m sorry’

Bengaluru: In an era where actors are relentlessly judged, trolled, and abused online for everything from their appearance to the way they speak, Sandalwood actor Chaithra Achar decided she would not stay silent. In fact, she has delivered one of the strongest responses to cyberbullies in the recent times.The internet troll, using the handle “@hosamani53” and displaying a photograph of a policeman as his profile picture, posted a vulgar comment in Kannada asking Chaithra: “Are you a heroine or a s*% worker?” He then went on to advise her to “behave with dignity.”In response, Chaithra tagged the official handle of the Bengaluru City Police and wrote: “Respected @blrcitypolice, 0@hosamani53 seem to be in your department. Can you please answer this question for him?”That single post by the actor, who has known for her roles in Kannada movie ‘Sapta Sagaradaache Ello – Side B” and Tamil film ‘3BHK’, got cops search for the person behind the troll. Soon, different police began circulating the image internally to verify whether the person was indeed part of the force or someone pretending to be a cop online. Realising that authorities were actively trying to identify him, the troll quietly deleted the offensive post and issued an apology to the actor in the comments section.A senior police officer told TOI: “He is not working in our department in any post. Also, no case has been registered against the man so far. But yes, he has posted an abusive comment and later apologised.”But the incident once again highlighted the dark reality faced by women in the entertainment industry, where several actors have recently become targets of organised online abuse, stalking, impersonation, and harassment.One of the most high-profile cases involved actor and former MP Ramya in July 2025. After she welcomed a Supreme Court observation in the sensational Renukaswamy murder case linked to actor Darshan, she was flooded with rape and death threats, and explicit abuse online. Bengaluru police registered an FIR under charges including criminal intimidation and sexual harassment, while the Central Crime Branch arrested more than a dozen accused and later filed a 380-page chargesheet.Television actor Rajini also endured months of cyberstalking after a man repeatedly sent obscene videos and sexual messages through fake accounts. Police eventually tracked down and arrested the accused, a tech recruitment manager.Similarly, Karunya Ram approached the CCB earlier this year after coordinated defamatory campaigns targeted her. In another case, Mansi Joshi fought impersonation attempts after fake profiles were created in her name to damage her reputation.