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Over 24 Lakh Online Child Sexual Abuse Cases Recorded Between 2017-2020 In India: Report
Writer: Tashafi Nazir
For most people, journalism sounds hectic and chaotic. For her, it's a passion she has been chasing for years. With an extensive media background, Tashafi believes in putting efforts on presenting a simple incident in the most interesting way.
India, 18 Nov 2021 11:05 AM GMT
Editor : Palak Agrawal |
Palak a journalism graduate believes in simplifying the complicated and writing about the extraordinary lives of ordinary people. She calls herself a " hodophile" or in layman words- a person who loves to travel.
Creatives : Tashafi Nazir
For most people, journalism sounds hectic and chaotic. For her, it's a passion she has been chasing for years. With an extensive media background, Tashafi believes in putting efforts on presenting a simple incident in the most interesting way.
According to the report, 80 per cent of the victims were girls below the age of 14 years.
Over 24 lakh cases of online child sexual abuse were reported in India during three year period between 2017-20. According to Interpol data, 80 per cent of the victims were girls below the age of 14 years.
The officials said that the figures had prompted the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to start a massive operation against the alleged traffickers of online child sexual abuse material (CSAM) across the country, with several websites under the scanner for their liability in hosting such material, The New Indian Express reported.
As per the Interpol data, content and consumers of CSAM are growing sharply with one report highlighting that 1.16 lakh queries on child pornography were made on a single internet search engine.
The CBI action was based on inputs of its special unit 'Online Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Prevention/ Investigation (OCSAE)', which tracks and monitors posting, circulation and downloads of Child Sexual Exploitation Material (CSEM) on the internet.
CBI To Take Up Matter With Social Media Websites
Sources said that the CBI plans to take up the issue with social media websites and hosting platforms under the relevant legal provisions to examine their role and liability.
"The data from Interpol is worrisome. It states 2.4 million cases of online child sexual abuse were reported with 80% victims being young girls," a senior official said.
The CBI operation is analysing 50 online social media groups with 5,000 participants worldwide who share and peddle CSAM.
As per sources, the groups have 36 members from Pakistan, the USA (35), Canada (35), Bangladesh (31), Sri Lanka (30), Nigeria (28), Azerbaijan (27), Yemen (24) and Malaysia (22).
The central agency will now coordinate with foreign law enforcement agencies of these countries to bring the accused to book and locate the origin of CSAM, they said.
"The CBI is coordinating with sister agencies through formal and informal channels," an official said.
Number Of Accused Booked
The analysis of some of the electronic devices recovered during the searches has revealed that CBI booked a lot of accused who were minting regular money by disseminating CSAM by sharing links, pictures, videos, texts, posts and hosting of these groups and platforms and third-party storage and hosting platforms, officials added.
"These people were earning regular income in their bank accounts linked to such online platforms. The money trail is being followed to work out the backward and forward linkages of the offenders," the official said.
People are being paid based on the views collected by the material they share, thus encouraging them to share in more such groups, leading to large-scale dissemination, the sources added.
The investigating agency also plans to coordinate with the International Child Sexual Exploitation Database to compare the child sexual abuse images to trace the origin of the same.
In its massive crackdown across 14 states, the CBI raided 77 locations and arrested seven people.
The search operation targeting 83 accused resulted in the seizure of a massive tranche of electronic data and gadgets showing patterns of the money trail and the involvement of various offenders giving fresh leads to the agency which are being pursued, they said.
The agency had launched a massive operation on November 14, Children's Day, with 23 separate FIRs against 83 accused, which continued till the the next day.
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