KOZHIKODE: These websites outsmart some of the finest online marketing sites. The products are elaborated with such precision and clarity that the customers need not worry about spending too much on the services offered. Do not get confused, we are talking about websites that provide call girls and escort services throughout the State, not sparing even the small towns.
“I request all my prospective readers to read the advertisement completely, so that you would understand each and everything. Donations depend on the profile, and as per the client’s requirement. Note: 1) Minimum starting price - Rs 2,000 (single); Rs 3,500 per hour. 2) No discount - no last price - no final price - no best price - no bargaining. 3) Minimum donations are mentioned above; confirm minimum donations before you call. 4) NO time pass or NO time waste; only for serious inquiry,” reads an advertisement on a notorious website.
Why do the porn sites have a free run in the State? Listen to High Tech Cell assistant commandant Vinaya Kumar Nair, “till date, no case has been registered in the State on the porn sites offering sex for money. Usually suo motu cases are charged against websites that threaten national security. There are provisions in Section-66(A) of the IT Act against putting offensive content on websites. But usually, the contact numbers given on these websites are fake, and often advertised out of personal enmity.”
In December 2014, the Supreme Court had observed that the Section-66(A) apparently lacked guidelines. But, according to cyber crime investigator Dhanya Menon, who is in the field from 2006 onwards, fake IDs are posted only in a few cases, and the rest are original ‘agents’ who offer the services through ‘established’ call girls, who are often ignored by the police.
“In a country like India, technically, it is very difficult to ban websites of a particular type. With proof, we might be able to ban one site, but 50 others might sprout the next day. The server might be in a foreign country. Apart from the ‘service offering sites’, there are groups on Whatsapp, Viber and Telegram, who ask members to upload sex videos in return for watching those uploaded by others. They have to either pay for the videos or upload new ones,” Dhanya says.
“There is no division of age or sex among the customers/members,” she adds, “the new uploads are largely by the teens who do not have money to spend on the site. Recently, a boy from a remote village in my district was taken into custody for shooting his neighbours’ private moments using a hidden camera fixed in their bedroom, and uploading it on a website,” she adds.