‘Thousands Of AI Images’: Keyaa Banerji’s Viral 140kg Lift Turns Into Online Abuse Horror

Indian powerlifter Keyaa Kunal Banerji has spoken about the online harassment, impersonation and misuse of her images that she says followed her silver-medal-winning performance at the 2026 IPF World Sub-Junior & Junior Classic Powerlifting Championships.

The 21-year-old competed in the Junior Women's 47kg category at the championships in Sun City, South Africa. She lifted 140kg in the deadlift to win a silver medal for India, while finishing fifth overall in her category. Her performance attracted significant attention on social media.

However, in a series of Instagram Stories, Banerji revealed that the attention following her performance also brought online sexual harassment, fake accounts and thousands of AI-generated images featuring manipulated versions of her face and body.

"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 and disturbing conversations surrounding my ethnicity, ancestry and caste?"

"And the Worst thousands of Al 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 everyday to my feed (and the feeds of every single person I know) flooded with these fake Al pictures"

Banerji Says She Has Always Been Private On Social Media

Banerji said she has generally kept a low profile on social media and rarely shared photographs of herself. She also said her previous Instagram account, which was private and had around 300 followers, was suspended.

"I've always been a private person and if you've known me in any capacity/followed my old account you'd know I never posted pictures on it either! It only got more stressful when Instagram suspended my old account (a private account with 300 followers), hence I've made this new one."

"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 subsequently created a new account, saying she wanted to have control over the way her sporting achievement and identity were represented online.

'The Purpose Of My Sport In My Life Is Just To Challenge Myself'

Banerji said the attention was not something she had sought and that her motivation for competing in powerlifting was personal rather than related to social media visibility.

"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 Al posters popping up without my consent. Initially, I just wanted to share this accomplishment with my close friends and family."

"It still makes me uneasy to have a public account all of a sudden as someone who barely uses any social media, but I'd rather take shaky steps towards standing up for myself and having some kind of say in a story about me than reading different versions of it everyday."

Her 140kg deadlift was more than three times her competition bodyweight of 45.70kg. Banerji also recorded a 90kg squat and a 50kg bench press for a total of 280kg, finishing fifth overall in the Junior Women's 47kg category.

France's Ines Herbaux won gold in the deadlift with a 165kg lift, while Ireland's Blathnaid O'Dwyer also lifted 140kg. Banerji finished second in the individual deadlift event.

Banerji Says New Account Is Not For Content Creation

The powerlifter also clarified that she did not create her new account with plans to become a content creator or make money from it.

"I have no goals of profiting from this account/and no goals of content creation whatsoever, I just want to start fresh with this account and make it clear which one's mine so that Instagram doesn't take my voice away again!"

She urged people interested in following her sporting journey to use her new account and redirect anyone looking for her profile to the correct page.

"Thanks for reading it would be really helpful if you could all follow this account if you're interested and redirect people looking for my account to this page because I'd much rather share real pictures of myself and my experience than have you guys look at these Al edits"

Banerji also said she was willing to share more about her experience at the World Championships but requested that people be mindful of her mental health while engaging with her content.

"if you're curious to know more about Worlds and my experience-I'll be happy to share, let's please do it in a way that's mindful of my mental health!"

"I truly want the opposite of more publicity over this and I couldn't care less about follower counts ete, I just want a space where I can exist as a girl who likes to deadlift and not an image that's been pulled apart over and over again that feels so inauthentic to me"

She later acknowledged that the sudden attention had affected her ability to enjoy her World Championships achievement.

"a lot of the attention has been overwhelming and in ways I've let it overpower the joy and whimsy that comes with a big win!"

Banerji's 140kg deadlift had already attracted widespread attention online after her silver-medal finish at the World Championships.