Brief by Shorts91 Newsdesk / 09:42am on 05 Sep 2026,Saturday Sports
Indian powerlifter Keyaa Kunal Banerji, 21, has spoken out about severe online abuse following her silver-medal-winning 140kg deadlift at the 2026 IPF World Sub-Junior & Junior Classic Powerlifting Championships in South Africa. Her performance went viral, but the attention reportedly led to sexual harassment, impersonation, offensive comments about her identity, and thousands of AI-generated images using manipulated versions of her face and body without consent. Banerji created a new Instagram account after her private profile was suspended, saying she wants control over her identity and sporting story. She stressed that she simply wants to be known as a girl who enjoys deadlifting.
