Jonita Gandhi recalls getting ‘D**k Pic’ with her Photo

Jonita Gandhi recalled a harrowing cyberflashing incident after being sent an explicit photo on Instagram.

The singer said she had been cyberflashed by a man who posted a picture of his genitals with an image of her face in the background.

She received the image after being added to the perpetrator’s Close Friends story on Instagram.

Jonita explained: “Some things are kind of traumatic.

“On Instagram, you can check your mentions, and I’d see that I’d been added to someone’s Close Friends stories.

“Then I’m seeing it’s a d**k pic. It has a watermark with their thing and my photo in the background.

“It’s disgusting. It’s harassment. But I keep ignoring such things.”

Jonita said she no longer checks all her messages due to the volume of inappropriate content she receives.

“I don’t check my DM. I only check my primary now. So I don’t bother. I think they just want attention. People are just jobless.

“I’ve blocked so many people because of these things. People also tag you in such photos.

“I don’t really care, but if my mom checks my profile and sees those things… I want to protect her from those.”

Jonita, who rose to fame as a playback singer in Indian cinema, also spoke about the harassment she faces during live shows.

She continued: “There are people who just get on the stage and say that they want to join me in singing. Of course, that’s annoying. It is really annoying.

“And I hit them back with a sarcastic response, but they are too drunk to understand.

“There are also some who come and try to dance with you. But I be like, ‘Back off. Know your place’.”

She added that such behaviour makes it harder for women in the public eye to maintain boundaries, especially in performance spaces where safety is not guaranteed.

Jonita, who was born in India and raised in Canada, also spoke candidly about the racism and body shaming she faced growing up.

She said: “I used to get a lot of racist comments about my facial hair while growing up.

“They used to call me Godzilla, and even the Punjabi boys in my class would make fun of me.

“Growing up, I was convinced that I was never going to have sex because of the same issues.”

“I couldn’t accept my own body; how can someone else accept it? I still have some of those issues; I still avoid swimming sometimes, but music made it better.

“I feel like I am the ugly duckling who became the swan.”

Since her debut in Chennai Express, Jonita Gandhi has gone on to become one of Bollywood’s most recognisable voices.

Her songs include ‘The Breakup Song’ from Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, ‘Gilehriyaan’ from Dangal, and ‘What Jhuka’ from Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani.