Indian-origin British television actress Shobna Gulati has said she was forced to quit micro-blogging website Twitter after suffering a stream of racist abuse.Internet users mutilated photos of the 45-year-old “Coronation Street” actress and posted them online with “sick comments”, The Sun reported Monday.
One user wrote: “You’re not British, you’re foreign”, while another tweeted, “You have got to be the ugliest f***** I’ve ever seen”.
One post read: “I’ll always be here to bother you.”
Gulati, who plays the character Sunita in the TV soap, said: “Being racially abused on Twitter really shook me up. It felt like going back in time to the 1970s.”
“It put me in mind of a psycho – like a horror movie. I just decided enough was enough. I tried to ignore it but it started to affect my confidence. Violent, vitriolic hatred gives people their moment in the spotlight. It beggars belief,” Gulati said.
Gulati, born in Oldham to Indian parents, spoke out after “Towie” star Lauren Goodger was also targeted by internet users over her weight.
“I know how she (Goodger) feels. It’s just bullying,” she said.