At just 21, Indian powerlifter Keyaa Banerji has burst onto the sports scene with a 140kg deadlift and a silver medal at the IPF Sub-Junior & Junior World Powerlifting 2026 in Sun City, South Africa. But for the young woman, whose slim build belies her strength, this triumph has been followed by a baffling barrage of sexual harassment online.
As a result of the online trolling, Keyaa has been forced to write an Instagram post today, detailing the horrible ordeal she has been facing, taking the focus away from her very recent remarkable victory.
A Sports article on the website Stack Umbrella says about her win: “What makes this [silver medal-winning performance] even more striking is that Keyaa Banerji weighed just 45.70kg on the day she lifted that bar. That is more than three times her own body weight, on a world championship stage, against some of the best young powerlifters in the world. The Keyaa Banerji Powerlifting achievement came in the Junior Women’s 47kg category, and it is the kind of performance that deserves far more attention than it typically gets.”
Attention she is getting for the right reasons, indeed, but from far too many of the wrong people who prowl the Internet.
The euphoria of a stunning performance has given way to distress for young Keyaa, who has a Bengali surname but is reportedly a resident of Haryana, the northern Indian state that is famous for its athletic women.
Her Instagram post today says: “Hi! I’d be really grateful if you could pause and read (heart emoji).
“I recently won a deadlift silver medal at IPF Jr Worlds for India and while I appreciate the support and recognition, as an Indian female athlete, I’ve also had to deal with:
- sexual harassment online;
- accounts impersonating me;
- disturbing conversations surrounding my ethnicity, ancestry and caste?
- And the Worst – thousands of AI generated images of me with pictures of my body and face morphed and edited in very disturbing ways – it’s quite unnerving to be waking up every day to my feed (and the feeds of every single person I know) flooded with these fake AI pictures (sic).”
A distraught Keyaa says in today’s post that Instagram suspended her previous account, which was a private account with 300 followers, and, therefore, she has made a new one — and though she is a “private person”, she has made this a public account.
“I didn’t want to make it public but I’m left with no choice if I want to have a say in a narrative about my own sport and accomplishment and stand up for myself without getting my account suspended again!” she says.
Keyaa’s post tells readers that she “really despised” seeing how Artificial Intelligence was being used to invade her privacy.
“The purpose of my sport in my life is just to challenge myself in a fun way and I’m grateful to be competing at the level that I am. I never wanted to see myself everywhere like this. In fact, I really despised all these AI posters popping up without my consent,” she says.
Past performances by Keyaa Banerji
Outlining Keyaa’s past performances, a Hindustan Times report says: “At the 2025 National Championship, Banerji recorded an 82.5kg squat, a 47.5kg bench press and a 127.5kg deadlift, taking her total to 257.5kg.
“She then raised those numbers at the 2026 National Championship, lifting 95kg in the squat, 52.5kg in the bench press and 140kg in the deadlift, finishing with a 287.5kg total.”
An Outlook report on the South Africa event says: “[Keyaa] finished with a 280kg total. That included a 90kg squat, a 50kg bench press and the 140kg deadlift that brought her silver. In the overall 47kg junior standings, she placed fifth.”
