In the midst of growing incidents of rape and atrocities against women comes another shocker. In what should come as a sickening indictment for societal morality as well as authorities who allow such acts to flourish, reports claim that ‘rape’ videos are being sold in hundreds every day.
Depending on the “duration” and “exclusivity” of the clips, which are 30 seconds to 5 minutes long, they are categorized under Rs. 50-150, a report in the Times Of India said today.
The market of selling and buying rape videos, which is running right under the nose of police and administration, functions by certain rules of its own.
The seller’s identity is never revealed and ‘dealers’ will only talk to those who’ve come armed with a trusted customer’s “reference”.
In an open and rampant market, “Porn is passe. These real life crimes are the rage,” said a shopkeeper at Agra’s Kasganj market.
“Dealers will download videos directly into your smart phone or put them in your pen drive,” he added.
Social networking platforms play a very crucial role for such gangs from where they download such stuff and upload them on Twitter, Tumbler or Facebook, said a shopkeeper.
Many of the times, culprits involved in rapes or assaults take their videos of the crime and post them online and it’s a matter of time before they go viral, said a shopkeeper of Kasganj.
In a horrific clip, two individuals have pinned down a girl, who looks like she is in her early 20s. And the boyfriend is being beaten up. "Maaf karo, maaf karo (Spare me)," he is crying.
The girl keeps on pleading them, "Kam se kam, video toh mat utaaro (At least don't shoot a video)."
A senior cop said that rapists most of the time record their heinous crime on their mobile phones and use the clips as a tool either to blackmail or bully the victims or to stop them from going to the cops. Sometimes, these clips are also used to pressure them into further sexual submission.
"A threat to post the rape online is very potent," he said.
So far, the police in Agra have managed to raid several places in the city, but only arrested one for selling explicit videos and pirated films.
Considering the record of the state in preventing crimes, one only wonders how far the administration will push to put an end to these technological evils.
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