Hyderabad: Sextortion, a form of blackmail in which sexual information or images are used to extort sexual favours from the victim, has now become a crime in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, the first state to pass such an order. Victims can now approach the police when such offers are made to them.
Illegal acts, unwarranted demands for sexual favours and inappropriate contacts by the persons in authority have now been made a punishable offence which is being hailed by women activists. This is order by the court.
Though activists for women’s rights have welcomed the order, the problem is how many are willing to report such acts. Advocate M. Santosh Kumar says, “The provision is an encouragement for women to come out and report. But when should they come out? Before taking the favour or after taking the favour? That has to be analysed. The law will help some women but it can also be misused.”
While in offline sextortion, the identity of the abusers is known, this is not the case in online sextortion of which there are many complaints. Tracing back videos and photographs is a problem.
Psychiatrist Dr Mihnaz Nasirabadi has come across this problem. “We get one to two cases where people come with symptoms of depression and anxiety and when probed further they state that they are being blackmailed online. Most of them are young students who are lured into stripping before the camera and then blackmailed for money. This online sextortion is seeing a major rise but the police complaints are few,” he said.
Victims are so scared that they usually succumb to the pressure and pay up. Both genders are equally harassed online. Apart from students, those in their mid-30s and 40s are also prime targets. Those who visit porn sites are picked up and befriended on social media. The chatting turns into video chatting and stripping after which the blackmailing begins. Many simply give in to the blackmailer and deposit the cash as they do not want family and friends to know what they have done. Only a few approach the cyber crime cell and book cases.
