The incident unfolded when Nikith Shetty reportedly sent a private message through social media to Shahbaz Ansar, warning him to advise his wife to change her clothing style
A business development professional has been dismissed from his position following his alleged threat to carry out an acid attack on a social media influencer due to her choice of clothes. The threat came to light after the influencer’s husband, journalist Shahbaz Ansar, made the matter public on social media, calling for immediate intervention from the authorities.
The incident, which occurred on Wednesday, unfolded when Nikith Shetty reportedly sent a private message through social media to Shahbaz Ansar, warning him to advise his wife to change her clothing style. The message included a the threat, “… kindly tell your wife to follow a good dress especially in Karnataka or else I may splash acid on her face.”
Alarmed by the violent nature of the threat, Shahbaz shared the message on social media tagging senior officials in the Karnataka government, including Bengaluru police, chief minister Siddaramaiah, and deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar, urging them to take immediate steps to prevent any potential harm to his wife.
In his tweet, Shahbaz wrote: “This is serious. @DgpKarnataka, @CMofKarnataka, @DKShivakumar. This person is threatening to throw acid on my wife’s face for her choice of clothes. Please take immediate action against this person to prevent any incident from happening.”
The post quickly gained traction on social media, sparking widespread outrage and leading to calls for accountability. Within hours of the threat going public, Etios Services, Shetty’s employer, responded with a public statement on Instagram, expressing shock and condemnation over its employee’s behaviour.
“We are deeply saddened to address a serious incident involving one of our employees, Nikith Shetty, who made a threatening statement regarding another individual’s choice of clothing. This behaviour is absolutely unacceptable and goes against the core values we uphold at Etios Services,” the company’s statement read.