Sa isang 56-minute tell-all video, inilahad ni Rachel Gupta ang dahilan kung bakit niya binitawan ang kaniyang korona bilang Miss Grand International 2024.

Sa naturang video, hindi napigilan ng beauty queen ng India na maging emosyonal nang ibahagi ang kaniyang pinagdaanan sa nakalipas na pitong buwan.

“A lot of you knew something wasn’t right. I read all the comments. I know a lot of you could tell my reign wasn't going very, very well. There were issues with the organization on their end,” ani Rachel.

“I just want to be completely transparent for all of you,” dagdag niya. “You deserve to know the truth.”

Ayon kay Rachel, ginawa niya ang video para maunawaan ng mga babae na nais na maging katulad niya kung ano ang papasukin nila.

"These have been the worst few months of my life. I have been at rock bottom," ani Rachel, na sinabing huling naging totoong masaya siya nang manalo siya noong November 2024.

"Since then, it's been going downhill,” aniya. “It's taken a lot of courage to give up the crown that I worked so hard for and also to talk about it so openly.”

Ayon kay Rachel, ginawa niya ang lahat para makamit ang kaniyang pangarap na manalong Miss Grand International. Pero “all I've gotten in return is constant harassment, mental torture, mistreatment, and it's on a systemic level. I don't think they can ever change this.”

Ani Rachel, nagbayad umano ang mga bansa para sa boto “in the form of donations.”

“When I found out, we couldn't afford to pay for the votes,” sabi niya. “It was so, so difficult to compete in terms of votes.”

Sinabi ni Rachel na hindi siya nagbayad para sa boto dahil wala siyang pondo. Pero hindi raw niya sinisisi ang mga bansa na nagbayad "because everybody wants to win.”

Nanalo umano siya dahil sa suporta ng publiko.

Mahirap umanong makipagtrabaho sa Miss Grand International organization dahil sa paraan ng pagtrato nila sa mga tao.

"They only care about money. That is their only thing,” patuloy niya.

Ilan buwan umano si Rachel sa Thailand pero hindi raw siya binigyan ng organisasyon ng mga pangunahing pangangailangan niya.

“You think, after winning, you'd think oh my god, it's a dream come true, the organization is going to take care of me, but that's not true,” sabi pa niya.

Matapos umano niyang manalo, inilipat siya ng kuwarto sa hotel na napakaliit na hindi niya magawang buksan nang maayos ang kaniyang maleta.

Pagkatapos ay inilipat umano siya sa isang "dilapidated house" na mahigit isang oras at kalahati ang layo sa lungsod kung nasaan ang opisina ng organisasyon.

Wala umanong nakalaan na sasakyan para sa kaniya, o maging mobile phone, at walang sapat na gamit na pangluto. Nagpapa-order umano siya ng pagkain mula sa food delivery services na dumarating pagkaraan ng dalawang oras, at kung minsan ay nakakansela dahil sa layo ng kaniyang lugar.

Kahit ang hiniling niyang mga prutas ay hindi umano napagbigyan.

“I requested multiple times, please can we make sure there's food? It's their responsibility. I'm there with them, with that organization. They should at least make sure that they're giving their queen food to eat,” paglalahad niya.

Hindi rin umano naibigay ng organisasyon ang hiniling niyang makapag-gym, at nagmakaawa pa siya para magkaroon ng yoga mat.

“At the same time, they were hounding me, constantly just talking about my weight and my body all the time,” ayon kay Rachel. “I remember one time, they sent their representative to me and he comes up to me starts pinching me in different places. 'Oh you need to lose weight here, you need to lose weight here.'”

Umiiyak na sinabi ni Rachel na, “What am I supposed to say to that? It's so embarrassing and makes you feel so small and so bad. I understand, obviously I have to stay fit and stay in shape for the job but it's so difficult when you don't have access to anything and you're just locked in a house all day long. What are you supposed to do?”

May mga araw umano na wala siyang natatanggap na mensahe, walang event, at nasa bahay lang siya.

“People are asking me, ‘why aren't you posting Rachel? Why are there no updates from you? And I would just say I'm really bad at it. But the truth is, what should I post? What should I post? Sitting here in the house, there's nobody to take pictures of me, I'm sitting here, depressed, nothing to do,” pahayag niya.

Sa red carpet events, nagpapanggap umano siya na maayos ang lahat sa kaniya, at maayos ang pakikitungo niya sa kinatawan ng organisasyon.

“The truth is, frankly, they don't know whether I'm alive or dead until we meet at the red carpet and smile for the cameras together. That's all they care about, getting that picture. It's such a false narrative,” patuloy niya.

“I was working so much and there was so much toxicity and negativity in the organization. Everyday, I would get more disillusioned. It would get harder and harder for me," dagdag pa ni Rachel.

Ayon sa kaniya, nakita lang niya ang financial arrangements sa kaniyang kontrata nang manalo siya. Nakasaad umano rito na mayroon siya buwanang allowance, at matatanggap lang niya ang kaniyang prize money pagkatapos ng kaniyang termino.

"I was paid my monthly stipend for the first month, just for the month of November. And they didn't pay me at all after that," pagsisiwalat niya.

Ang mga magulang umano niya ang tumutulong sa kaniya sa pinansiyal niyang pangangailangan.

Habang nasa isang work trip sa isang lalawigan sa Thailand, nanakawan umano siya ng thousand dollars sa kaniyang maleta sa kaniyang tinutuluyan.

Ang masaklap, nang humingi umano siya ng tulong sa organisasyon, sinabihan siya na "we can't prove that you have the money so there's nothing we can do."

"I spoke with Teresa [Chaivisut] about it and the moment I bring it up with her, she starts attacking me and blaming me for it," sabi ni Rachel.

"I understand it was my fault i didn't lock my suitcase but I never imagined something like this could happen on company property," ani Rachel. "I'm not a contestant anymore. I'm their queen. It's their job to take care of me and make sure I'm safe and my things are safe. But she fully blamed me."

Tinalakay din ni Rachel ang business model ng organisasyon na pinagti-TikTok Live siya para magbenta ng mga produkto, at nakakaramdam siya ng "guilty for misleading the fans."

"It baffles me. You have women — me as a speaker who wants to talk issues, who wants to create change in the world who has so many ideas not just business but philanthropic work and you want her to sell chili paste and chili sauce and random things on TikTok? Seriously," saad niya.

Ayon sa Indian beauty queen, nais niyang ilahad ang tungkol sa usapin ng lipunan. "The only reason I'm doing this is to use my voice in a way that matters, not selling on TikTok but actually working with charities. They used this 'stop the war and violence' thing, but it's all fake. It's all a facade. Where is the stop the war and violence. Where is the advocacy work for that?"

Sabi pa niya, "I've heard Nawat [Itsaragrisil] say 'it's useless, that people don't care about it. It's not entertaining. It doesn't make money so we're not going to do it.'"

"I'm sorry but it's not all about entertainment. Being a queen, that's not what pageantry is about. You know, it's about being a global public figure who uses her voice for good, you know, not these cheap entertainment tactics.” ayon kay Rachel.

Ikinuwento rin niya nang ipatawag sila para papirmahin sa kontrata at ipinaramdam sa kanila kung gaano sila kasuwerte na mapili.

"I don't know if I can explain that situation properly, but when they gave the contract, it was like a gun to the head, okay? It was their pen, their paper, their office, their contract, their rules. And we were expected to just sit down, shut up, and sign it," ani Rachel, na nais daw sana niyang ipasuri muna sa abogado ang kontrata o magkaroon ng negosasyon sa laman nito.

"But Teresa said no. 'If you don't want to sign it, don't sign it. You can leave,'" aniya. "There's no negotiating this. You just sign it. They want the girls to feel lucky to be chosen. Just sign it."

Dagdag pa niya, dalawang buwan ang nakararaan nang pagbantaan na siya ng MGI organization na tatanggalan siya ng korona.

"They used that thing of dethronement, of taking the crown away as blackmail, to manipulate me for everything. You can't bring up a single issue with them because they will just say, we'll take your crown away," ani Rachel.

Tinawag niya sina Nawat at Teresa, “cold-hearted businesspeople" na ang nais lang umano ay "to extract your use, make money off of you. That is it, that’s all they care about. And all they care about is how they look.”

"They do not care about what you speak, what you think. They only care about is what you look like," dagdag pa ni Rachel.

Pagtatapos ni Rachel sa video: “If you're thinking of supporting this pageant, or if you're a girl who's thinking of—God forbid—of competing in this pageant, please go into way completely aware of all of these things that even if you win, you'll be completely on your own and you're not going to get any love or special treatment or safety or support from this organization."

“The organization, Miss Grand International Organization, does not care about you. It does not care about its queens. All it wants is to use its queens until the queens are not useful. And I could not be a part of this more, which is why I chose to give up my title and to resign,” sabi ni Rachel.

Ayon kay Rachel, patuloy siyang maniniwala sa kaniyang sarili at nagpasalamat sa suporta, pagmamahal at tiwala ng publiko.

“I want you to know that this decision to give the crown back, it did not come from a place of pain. It came from a place of strength,” aniya.

“I don’t feel like I’ve lost anything, I feel like I gained everything. I feel free for the first time in months. I feel free and I feel like I can breathe. I’ve just been drowning for so long and I feel like I’ve come up for air. And I have my life back and I’m so grateful for that,” dagdag pa ni Rachel.

Nitong Miyerkoles, naglabas ng opisyal na pahayag ang organisasyon na inaalis na kay Rachel ang korona.— mula sa ulat ni Nika Roque/FRJ, GMA Integrated News