An Indian-origin woman in the US has been embroiled in a social media storm after an X user accused her of “student visa fraud”.
Event Context
“An American woman was filmed, named and falsely branded a ‘visa fraudster’ before millions. The office of @USAttyReitz , U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas, confirmed the allegation was false: she is a naturalized American citizen. Yet rather than condemn the person who publicly smeared her, Reitz used her exoneration to rant about ‘illegal aliens’ and who is ‘welcome on American soil’,” the Indian American Advocacy Council wrote on X.
An American woman was filmed, named and falsely branded a “visa fraudster” before millions.The office of @USAttyReitz , U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas, confirmed the allegation was false: she is a naturalized American citizen.Yet rather than condemn the… https://t.co/cEJfwxYELi
“Will you be prosecuting the person who doxxed this young woman. What rights do American citizens have against this,” another user asked Reitz.
Match Outlook
A post by an account that goes by the username ‘CyberGreen09’ on X had accused Sadhana Gollapudi, a resident of Houston in Texas who also performs Kuchipudi — a traditional Indian dance form — of being a “forever F1 student”, referring to a visa that allows international students to study at US colleges.
“Meet Sadhana Gollapudi, forever F1 student since 2014. Sadhana enjoys traditional barefoot crab dancing in Houston, Texas. For 12 years, she has played the student visa game, enrolling in multiple programs,” the post on July 30 read.
“Works as a dancer & cash tutor violating her visa,” the account wrote, sharing a video of her performing Kuchipudi and using the hashtag #visafraud.
As the post went viral, the attorney for Houston, Aaron Reitz, stepped in and said that she is a naturalised US citizen.
“Thanks for flagging. My office looked. She’s a naturalized US citizen, not here on student visa,” he said in response to the post on August 4.
Thanks for flagging. My office looked. She’s a naturalized US citizen, not here on student visa.As US Atty over Houston, I take visa fraud seriously. We prosecute it to the fullest. Neither illegal aliens nor those who obtain legal status illegally are welcome on American soil.
“As US Atty over Houston, I take visa fraud seriously. We prosecute it to the fullest. Neither illegal aliens nor those who obtain legal status illegally are welcome on American soil,” Reitz added.
Sadhana Gollapudi, who is a biomedical engineer, accused the ‘CyberGreen09’ account of “spreading false and misleading claims” about her.
“If you come across these posts or any similar posts, I kindly ask you to report them for misinformation and unauthorized use,” Gollapudi, who has over 4,000 followers, said.
A post shared by Sadhana Gollapudi | Kuchipudi (@sadhana.g)
“Your support means more than you know. Thank you for standing by me,” she added.
‘CyberGreen09’, who, as per the bio, is the “fan account” of Pakistani actor Hamza Sohail, has since then made the profile private.
The account has also been accused of being “a troll Pakistani account”, and many users claimed it repeatedly shares anti-Indian rhetoric online.
Some users also asked the US attorney to look into the account.
