VIJAYAWADA: Girls and women often keep mum about the harassment over social media fearing social stigma and adverse response from their immediate family members.
Referring to the murder of a BTech student at Paramayakunta in Old Guntur on Sunday, Director-General of Police Gautam Sawang, on Monday, advised youngsters, especially girls, to avoid embarking on social media adventures.
Another senior police officer said social media-fuelled violence has been on an uptick with wider internet penetration, and is hard to control. “In most cases, girls and women fall prey to social media abuse. Unfortunately, they are not reporting the harassment to police fearing social stigma and also due to the possible response from their family members,” DIG SV Rajasekhar Babu told a news conference on Monday.
In the case of the slain BTech student, Nalla Ramyasri, she had not informed her parents of the harassment by Kunchala Sasikrishna, though he had been stalking her for months. “Girls fear that such incidents might prevent them from pursuing studies and career,” Babu said, adding that police could not prevent such crimes until they were informed.
According to police statistics, more than 50 per cent of cyber crimes reported in the State pertained to cyber bullying and girls were falling prey to online friendships. “We appeal to the youth to be vigilant against social media contacts and collectively confront unruly trends taking place,” the DGP said.