Indian couple trolled over honeymoon photoshoot will not take down images

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A young couple from India’s southern state of Kerala experienced online moral policing first hand after they shared pictures from an intimate honeymoon photoshoot on social media.

Sales professional Hrushi Karthikeyan married his wife Lakshmi back in September, but due to pandemic restrictions they were unable to have the big celebration they originally planned for. 

Forced to limit the wedding itself, the couple decided to spice up their post-wedding honeymoon with a photoshoot, and hired a professional photographer.

Expanding on the growing trend in India of elaborate pre- and post-wedding shoots, the couple chose to get photographed dressed in white sheets in the grounds of the tea plantation resort in Vagamon where they were staying.

“The idea was to click the most intimate pictures of ours,” Mr Karthikeyan told The Independent.

Unaware of what would happen next, the couple shared their photographs on their social media accounts, along with the pictures from the wedding itself.

However, after they were shared on Facebook, the photos quickly became viral and brought a deluge of trolling, abuse and vulgar comments. Some people raised objections at the intimacy shown in the pictures and questioned the couple’s attire. Commenters asked if they were wearing anything underneath the sheets, and accused them of forgetting their conservative Indian culture.

Hrushi estimated that some 80 per cent of the responses to the photographs have been negative. “Body shaming, slut-shaming and racism,” is how he characterised the reaction.

The couple said the online response has impacted them and their families deeply, but despite that and the ongoing trolling, they said they still refused to take the photos down.

Speaking to BBC News, Ms Karthikeyan said: “Initially, our parents were shocked too, but we explained to them why we wanted to do it and they understood and have been very supportive. But many of our relatives accused us of aping the West.”

And explaining the decision not to just take photos down, she added: “If we do, they will take it as an admission of our guilt, that we did something wrong.”

The couple insist the reaction has been overblown.  "We were even wearing clothes underneath," she added. 

The reaction hasn’t been all bad – some of applauded the courage of the young couple and hit back at the trolls for trying to dictate how they express themselves. But the Karthikeyans themselves said at this point are done caring about what the online community thinks, and want to just move forward with the rest of their married lives.