Video Leaks Scam Against Privacy Of Women Invites Silence

The unraveling of a scam that has severely compromised the privacy and dignity of women needs to be called the nation’s shame. What began with the discovery of videos of women being examined in a gynecological ward of a hospital being sold on the internet is speedily turning out to be a scam spread over several states on which the media has remained largely silent over the last several days.

Latest reports in the matter point to the arrest of six persons, accused of countrywide CCTV hacking operation by the Cybercrime Police officials in Ahmedabad. But it is the scale of the operation undertaken by the accused that is baffling. Reports quoting the police say that by using the hacking tool the accused stole around 50,000 videos over the last nine months and these include video footage from schools, colleges, factories, corporate houses and even bedrooms.

Those arrested from Surat in Gujarat along with Sangli and Vasai in Maharashtra include Parit Dhamella who is a Commerce graduate with training obtained in hacking CCTV cameras from abroad; Vaibhav Mane who is a B.TEch in Computer Science responsible for marketing the videos on a web channel and Ryan Pereira who is a management student who allegedly sold the footage on the channel.

Their arrest follows that of Prajwal Talli from Latur in Maharashtra, Praj Patil from Sangli and Chandraprakash Phoolchand from Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh. Ironically Talli and Patil were aspiring to be medical professionals by clearing NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test).

Investigations opoint to the accused having learnt hacking techniques from different web channels operated by foreigners alongside various tutorials being offered on the internet. Apart from hacking the CCTV camera set ups they also used hidden cameras and mobile phones to record videos. Reports say that they used virtual private networks (VPNs) that showed their locations to be in Romania and Atlanta. Initial reports say that the accused earned around Rs 8 lakh by selling such videos.

Interestingly the accused were reportedly running channels with names like ‘Megha Demos Group’, ‘CCTV Injection Group’, ‘Labor Room Injection Group’and ‘Ganga River Open Bathing Group’ to sell the illicit videos.

The accused were selling the videos for anything between Rs 2000 to Rs 4000. They were acquiring these videos by using specialized software to hack CCTV cameras at various facilities.

Besides the criminal angle to the case it is pertinent to understand the larger dimension of these developments. Manjula Pradeep of Ahmedabad who is an authority on women issues underlined the need to make things foolproof in places like hospitals. “It needs to be ensured that the dignity of women is never compromised. The second important aspect is gender sensitization that remains largely ignored. The case also points towards the social trend of making money through shortcuts where values and principles stand compromised. There is also the larger question of filth circulating on the internet and on social media. The question that needs to be asked here is whether the media is playing its role.”

Woman activist Jagmati Sangwan underlined various inter-linkages to what has come to light. “This shows the objectification of women’s bodies to the extreme. One is shocked to see how deep rooted it is. Gynecology is related to motherhood. To think that such a thing is sexualized and commercialized is beyond human values. It is equally horrifying to note that there are sellers of such things and also buyers as well. It goes on to reveal the perverted mindset that is prevailing.”

She explained that it is not that the accused who include those aiming to clear NEET and become medical professionals come from an impoverished background. “They have access to opportunity and their conduct is very concerning. The revelation that there is a market for such things is all the more shocking.”

Sangwan said that when the students of science take to this sort of crime, it goes to extreme levels. Such as the extreme brutality visible in the RG Kar Medical College rape and murder case in Kolkata. She said it was imperative to work on the human sensitization of science students. She said that the authorities need to set an example by ensuring that victims of sexual assaults are punished and not allowed to move free because of political and other reasons. “Unfortunately we have seen examples where victims are not only blamed but there are attempts to punish them as well,” she added.

Another disturbing aspect of the case at hand Sangwan said was that the persons involved were not from impoverished backgrounds. And were resorting to this crime to make easy money through short cuts to satiate their luxury needs.

Observers are pointing towards the absence of visible public outrage. “Isn’t it surprising that there is hardly any reporting at the national level on what is unfolding? With the mainstream media content with its hyper-local reportage the news has just remained confined to the local editions. There have been no editorials written. Expecting anything from the television channels would be asking for too much,” Gujarat activists said.

Sangwan agreed with this, pointing out that there have hardly been any protests from the women organizations who need to take a lead. “All this is a sad commentary on the times we are living in,” she added.