THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: More arrests are in the offing with highly-placed police sources saying that child pornography has grown from a nuisance to a menace in the state. A few minor boys were among the 47 people arrested on Saturday for having circulated child porn content, while a woman was issued a warning recently after she was found to have watched such content on her smartphone.
Sources said Saturday’s raids — conducted under Operation P-Hunt to crack down on those who watch and circulate child sex abuse material (CSAM) — were based on specific information collected from cyberspace over a period of time and the culprits came from all sections of society.
“The shocking fact is that juveniles are committing such offences. During the previous leg of P-Hunt, one of those nabbed was a woman. These are disturbing trends,” an officer told TNIE.The woman was apprehended from Thrissur. “It was clear she was watching child abuse videos. But as her phone was used by other family members, prosecuting her was almost impossible. So she was given a stern warning,” the officer said.
Regarding the minor boys in the case, the police will chart out an action plan in consultation with mental health experts. Sources with the Kerala Police’s Cyberdome said there are two types of child porn viewers in the state — compulsive child porn viewers and occasional viewers.
“The occasional viewers get such content through WhatsApp groups in which members share adult
content. They share a lot of videos, some of them depicting child abuse. Their actions may not be intentional. But there are others who access content from encrypted websites and Telegram channels. They are compulsive viewers and demand child abuse material. Such people are more dangerous compared to occasional viewers,” an officer said.
“After the Covid-19 outbreak, such videos are on the rise because kids remain home. Most of those who upload obscene content, we suspect, are known to kids,” said an IPS officer, on condition of anonymity.
However, the commercial angle of CSAM circulation involving Keralites is yet to be probed due to technical limitations. “It’s very difficult to go into such details because of technical issues. To unearth details, we need to pursue each case separately. As of now, that’s not happening,” said a Cyberdome official.The police registered 89 cases after raids conducted across the state under Operation P-Hunt on Saturday.
Satyarthi lauds effort
The police’s crackdown on child porn viewers received applause from Nobel laureate and child rights activist Kailash Satyarthi. Appreciating the alertness and intervention of the police, Satyarthi tweeted that Kerala’s action should be a wake-up call for other states as well.