A new dimension of violence against women : Cyber crimes
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: May 19 , 2014 -

This is not any hi-tech Hollywood movie but harsh reality.

Apart from rape, murder, molestation, and other forms of sexual harassment, women in Manipur too have started facing a new form of harassment in the form of cyber crimes.

A man uploading nude photographs of his lover in social networking sites like Facebook is disgusting.

This is open betrayal of all the love and trust the girl reposed in her boyfriend. Nudity is something not appreciated in this part of the world either in meta-physical sense or from the arty perspective.

Nudity in Manipuri society is still a taboo if such a scene is depicted even in (local) movies.

Yes, many Hollywood celebrities have no qualms to take off their clothes in front of cameras.

Indeed they deliberately expose their bodies to attract attention and climb a step or two in the popularity chart.

In the Western world, nudity is a common subject of many a great number of paintings, plays and movies.

But there is a vast difference between the western concept of human body, particularly women's body and the oriental concept.

The man in question by uploading the nude photographs assassinated the girl's character in full public view.

If the girls' parents knew what was going on in the cyber world, they would be hanging their heads in ignominy. Like nude photographs and nudity, pre-marital sex is still something forbidden in Manipuri society.

This does not mean people do not have pre-marital sex. Many people might be having pre-marital sex but such acts are confined within their private domains.

In spite of all the advancement in information technology, rapid progress in telecommunication and cybernetics, Manipur is still an orthodox society, if not totally conservative.

Unlike liberal societies of the West, people should have a clear understanding of the line dividing what is public and what should remain in the private domain. Crossing this line wittingly or unwittingly may have disastrous consequences.

Again, the man in question committed a serious social crime, leaving aside legal aspects for the moment, by directly invading into the girl's privacy.

He was sharing with all netizens what he and the victim shared in privacy. Such exposure would be really traumatic for the victim.

Cyber crimes, particularly blackmailing and character assassination, have now started targeting women of the State who are already enduring the collateral damage caused by the conflict situation.

Another case of cyber crime where a boy uploaded a nude photograph after pasting a girl's face on the same nude photograph was reported from Thoubal sometime back.

It is a matter of serious concern that cyber crimes are now a reality in the State and it is steadily rising.

To remind our readers, cyber crimes broadly refers to crimes where use of computers coupled with the use of internet is involved.

To deal with cyber crimes, Information Technology Act 2000 or ITA- 2000 was enacted by Parliament of India to protect the field of e-commerce, e-governance, e-banking as well as penalties and punishments in the field of cyber crimes.

The above Act was further amended in the form of IT Amendment Act, 2008.

With cyber crimes rising its ugly head in Manipur too, it is pertinent to ask how well equipped are Manipur Police or whether it has the requisite expertise to deal with cyber crimes.

Answer to this question is doubtful in view of the State police's track record which is not at all satisfactory when it comes to dealing with crimes against women.

Yes, it is understandable, Manipur Police would have had little experience in dealing with cyber crimes but the State cannot let it go as such otherwise there would be chaos and turmoil in the society, and ultimately 'mob justice' would reign.