A Miss England beauty queen is threatening to sue two former winners, claiming she is a victim of cyber bullying.
Bhasha Mukherjee, an NHS doctor, has demanded a public apology from Alisha Cowie, 20, and Katrina Hodge, 33, for remarks they made about her.
Her solicitor claimed their criticism on Facebook had incited ‘untruthful, racist and hurtful’ slurs from others against her.
The row stems from a post under Dr Mukherjee’s name about a pregnant elephant which was killed after eating a pineapple filled with firecrackers.
The junior NHS doctor allegedly wrote: ‘When you guys were crying… why corona happened to us?! This is why! How dare we humans even walk this earth with the evil inside us. We deserve corona.’
Bhasha Mukherjee, 24, who is also a doctor for the NHS at Pilgrim Hospital in Boston, Lincolnshire, posted the comments to Facebook two weeks ago
Miss Cowie, who was Miss England 2018, hit out: ‘As an apparent frontline doctor I think your statement of us deserving coronavirus is disgusting.’
And Miss Hodge, Miss England 2009, wrote: ‘Young children have died! Nearly 50,000 in the UK and you are saying we deserved it for this?!’
Dr Mukherjee, 24, who has been treating coronavirus patients at Boston Pilgrim Hospital in Lincolnshire, later apologised for the comments.
But trolls targeted her and she complained about harassment to police.
Officers are not believed to be pursuing it as a crime. But an email sent by the doctor’s lawyer to Miss Cowie and Miss Hodge threatened legal action if they did not apologise within days, saying they had caused her ‘extreme anxiety and distress’.
Miss Hodge, who lives in Brighton and is a mother-of-two, also claims she was forced to take the day off work after receiving a warning from Miss England director Angie Beasley.
In the email, the director claimed: ‘I wanted to let you know that the persistent remarks that you and others have posted across social media are being used as evidence for bullying and harassment.
‘I am sure that I do not need to remind you, Miss World and Miss England most important ethic is to care and support others.’
Katrina Hodge, 33, and Alisha Cowie, 20, (pictured) both former Miss England in 2009 and 2018 respectively, publicly responded to Miss Mukherjee’s comments
Miss Hodge said: ‘I woke up with an email of lies. Miss England felt like Basha was being cyber bullied and harassed by us. I couldn’t concentrate on anything.
‘Before this incident, I’ve never even spoken to her before. I was just offering advice.
‘They were apparently going to go to the police and it left me feeling like I had a dark cloud over my head.
‘I now feel like they’re trying to intimidate me so this issue about coronavirus is deflected.
‘I believe Angie has a vendetta against me and that’s why my name has been dragged into this. I wish for the bullying to stop please!’
The former crown said the ordeal had moved her close to tears – after previously speaking about her sexist abuse of being called Combat Barbie in the Army.
She added: ‘I suddenly went into a panic and overdrive. For 12 years I’ve been cyber-bullied.
‘To be accused of something which I’ve previously been a victim of completely broke my heart.
‘In the past, people have said that if they saw my face, they’d smash it in and I was called a b**ch.
‘Angie knows what I’ve been through and supported me through it. My head was spinning and I felt like I was being spun in the washing machine when she tried to ring me.
‘I’ve been so stressed that my name’s going to be dragged through the mud.’
Miss Hodge, (pictured) who lives in Brighton and is a mother-of-two, also claims she was forced to take the day off work after receiving a warning from Miss England director Angie Beasley
And while Miss Hodge was told that she wasn’t required at Sussex Police Station despite Miss Mukherjee’s police report, a solicitor’s email landed in her inbox.
Miss Cowie was also contacted by Quality Solicitors Burton & Co, who stated that the pair had incited ‘untruthful, racist and hurtful comments resulting in harassment’ – causing Miss Mukherjee to ‘suffer extreme anxiety and distress’.
‘In order to bring the matter to an end and to prevent a civil action being taken against you, Dr Bhasha Mukherjee is requesting that you use the same social platform to post a public apology for the distress and anxiety she has been made to suffer,’ it read.
Rachael O’Sullivan, of Quality Solicitors, has urged the pageant beauties to respond within seven days before legal action is taken for damages.
And the former models suggested that this incident is just one of many cases – where Miss England stars are ‘too intimidated’ to speak up.
‘I already left the competition because I decided that it didn’t align with my morals. I walked away after 12 years’, Miss Hodge divulged.
‘They were happy to promote me as a former soldier who fought in Iraq, it added credibility to their competition, and as an organisation they’ve said nothing.
‘If she doesn’t speak up about it, nobody will.
‘A comment condoning corona, whether it’s said in anger or not, is quite insensitive.
‘Basha is doing an amazing job, as well as all NHS workers, but I was also very conscious that I wasn’t just representing Miss England as a brand, but the British Army.
‘I thought she would’ve said that she was hacked or another genuine excuse, but what came next was bizarre. She suggested that her mum had posted it on her profile.’
Angie Beasley has been approached for comment.