KOCHI: Raising questions over the efficiency of the police to tackle rising cyber crimes in the state, a Kerala poet is awaiting action after lodging a complaint regarding her photos being illegally used on an adult content website. Chithira Kusuman recently raised her concern through social media penning about the apathy and ill-treatment she received when she approached the Kochi city cyber police with a complaint on November 30.
She said that rather than taking measures to remove the picture, the police blamed her for not locking her Facebook account. She was asked to lodge a complaint via e-mail, attaching the URLs of the website. Though Chithira did everything as directed, the cops did not respond. Later, she sent a reminder to the police before detailing her experience on social media.
“After my Facebook post got widely circulated, a police officer visited me. They claim they did not receive my complaint but got the reminder mail I sent them. I am surprised at this because I sent the reminder using the reply option on the first mail. If they did not receive my first e-mail, how come they got the second one?,” asks Chithira. The poet said she expected support from the police rather than pinning the blame on her. “I have full trust in the country’s legal system. My concern is regarding the way the police are handling such matters,” she said.
However, the officials with the Kochi cyber police station maintain they did not receive the first e-mail she sent.“We have launched a probe and a case would be registered soon. We have already sent the URLs to Facebook and are awaiting further action. Though we checked the inbox thoroughly, we couldn’t find Chithira’s complaint,” a police officer said.
As per the data provided by the police, 684 cases of cyber crimes were registered in the state until November this year, compared to 626 in 2021. In the Kochi cyber police station, 39 FIRs were registered this year until Wednesday, compared to 11 in 2021. Currently, there are 13 officials at the station. Though the Ernakulam rural police station has only seven officials, 40 cyber cases were registered this year so far.
“The staff strength is not sufficient to probe the number of cases registered every week. It is the cyber financial frauds that are reported frequently at the station but the probe in these cases has to be carried out mostly in other states,” said the officer.
Advocate Jiyas Jamal, cyber expert and founder of Cyber Suraksha Foundation, said the Kochi cyber police registered a case after a fake WhatsApp account was created in the name of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. “But the probe is yet to make any breakthrough,” he said.
However, he does not put the blame on the police alone. “It is true that the current policing system is not sufficient to probe cyber crimes. The major concern is the response received from social media platforms and other websites when the police approach them with queries and request interventions. Most social media platforms keep these requests on hold for months. This affects the investigation. These platforms should appoint more people in India for the redressal of complaints without delay,” he said.