BENGALURU: Increasing complaint calls from women alleging cases of cybercrime, has got the Parihar- Vanitha Sahayavani worried. The community collaboration initiative by Bengaluru City Police for protection of women, says that they receive cases where victims complain of their personal details being misused by their boyfriends or former lovers. Personal details can range from their ATM card and pin code to nude photos and intimate videos. Faced with an onslaught of constant abuse the women suffer mental trauma when blackmailed, and begin contemplating suicide.
“Last month, we got a call from a woman who said that her boyfriend had taken her phone, PAN card, ATM card and pin number as well as her driving licence, Rs 2 lakh and jewellery. Strange as it may sound, there are people who do share such important and private details only to be taken advantage of. We are coming across many worrying cases like this,” says Rani Shetty, in-charge of Parihar, adding that the man in this case, was not allowing the woman to withdraw her salary for six months.
The woman was not in a position to tell her family, which is when she approached Parihar's counselling services. They called the two together, urging him to return her belongings but to no avail.“Soon after, he uploaded nude and other intimate photos of hers taken from when they were in a relationship. He also threatened to send it to her parents. She could not tolerate the emotional trauma and wanted to commit suicide. We sent her to a psychologist for emotional support and helped her register an FIR at the cyber crime police station, under Section 67 of The Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008,” Rani adds.
Post this, her bank and social media accounts were blocked, the videos taken down, and the investigation is ongoing. A senior counsellor at Vanitha Sahayavani, Saraswathi BS, says, “Three months ago, we received a complaint from a 21-year-old girl who was in a relationship with a 25-year-old boy. He took videos of them having sex and threatened to put them up on Facebook or send them to her father. He, in fact, sent them to a close friend of hers. We helped her lodge an FIR. He is in judicial custody now though the charge sheet is yet to be filed.”
In order to raise awareness on not revealing personal data, bank details and other information that can be tampered with online, Parihar-Vanitha Sahayavani is trying to raise awareness among women through workshops. Yeshwanth Kumar, Cyber Crime inspector says,
“We receive many such cases where people willingly reveal or share their bank details and personal information, while in a relationship. The culprit usually gets booked under the IT Act, Section 67
for transmitting obscene material electronically and Section 66D for impersonation through computer resources.”