The Mumbai police has registered 102 cases of obscenity this year until September, in which 92 per cent of the complainants are women. However, the police has been successful in arresting only 37 persons in these cases, as per records.
Figures of the obscenity cases registered provided by the Mumbai police also show a rise in the cases this year as compared to last year. In 2014, until September, the Mumbai police had registered 76 cases of obscenity in which 38 persons were arrested.
According to these records (available with The Asian Age), maximum obscenity cases (24) were registered in the North region of the Mumbai police, followed by the West region where 20 cases were registered. The hike in the cases of obscenity has alarmed the police department, as well as the experts in the cyber law world.
An official from the cyber cell said, “Obscenity cases mean those referring to pornographic and sexual content. The police has registered several cases, including inappropriate written content from known or unknown people to women. We have noticed random pop-ups on the Internet that compromise a person’s email account details or other personal information that leads to receiving of inappropriate content in email.”
The officer further said that if any one receives a friend request on social networking sites such as Facebook or Whatsapp and later the ‘friend’ sends them any pictures or messages, it can be termed as vulgar and a complaint can be filed.
Experts in the field of cyber crime believe that the police should be ready and well-equipped as many kinds of crime are happening in cyber world.
Famous lawyer and cyber crime expert Vicky Shah said, “There should be some training programme for officials of local police stations as cyber crime related cases are complicated and need extra effort. Cases are rising day by day as people are becoming familiar with the Internet. One should not share their email id on blogs and Internet ads, and one should not open pop-ups.”
