Acclaimed cyber crime investigator and director of Pune based Intelligent Quotient Security System (IQSS) Dr. Harold D’Costa informs Rajeshree Nagarsekar that in Goa, cyber crimes against women, chiefly including transmission of pornography, harassments and stalking, is on the rise making it a matter of grave concern.

In Goa’s first reported case of cyber stalking, Manish Gulati (name changed) was stalking Priya Rao (name changed). Manish created a fictitious profile and posted obscene and obnoxious information about Priya. He also distributed a residence telephone number inviting people to chat on phone. As a result of which Priya kept getting obscene calls from everywhere and people promptly talked dirty to her.

A complaint was registered by Priya’s father (a senior government official in the defence service). The Cops started to trace the guy who had posted obscene information about Priya. After repeated reminders from the police officer to Orkut’s office they were unable to get the information about the perpetrator who made the crime. Priya was very frustrated and in the mean time Priya’s father was transferred to Delhi and a fresh complaint was registered.

After much persuasion the Delhi Police finally logged a FIR and started tracking the criminal.

The Cops in Delhi got the information from the Orkut’s office by tracking the IP address and found that the person posting obscene contents was ex-boyfriend of Priya and his name was not Manish Gulati but was Virendra Reddy. He never wanted Priya to get married. He was caught In Chennai and was arrested by Delhi Police. An offence was registered against Virendra and was booked under Section 66C, Section 66D, Section 66A of the IT Act. He was also booked under 509 IPC for outraging the modesty of Priya Rao.

 Reason for growth in cases

 According to cyber guru Dr. Harold D’Costa, the reasons for the rising incidents of cyber crimes against women in India are as follows. 

1. Emergence and prevalence of cyber crimes and sophistication of the perpetrators.

2. Lack or weak existing measures to address cyber crime.

3. Road map or strategy to build mechanisms to address cyber crime against women.

4. Women appropriation of cyber space as a secured space of empowerment due to safety concerns. “Cyber crime against women mostly includes transmission of pornography, harassments and stalking. The anonymity of the Internet provides the safe haven for the perpetrator by hiding their identity. The perpetrator usually adopts services of deferent ISPs and using different screen names. Cyber harassment perpetrated through the use from the cyber space can be sexual, racial, religious, etc. The consequences of harassment are the violation of privacy which the cyber space grants to women,” explains Dr. D’Costa.

 Cyber Stalking most common among cyber crimes

 The most common and horrific among cyber crimes against women is possibly cyber stalking. So what is Cyber Stalking? 

Dr. D’Costa explains, “Cyber stalking is online harassment using Internet, e-mail or other electronic communication devices to stalk another person. Stalking generally involves harassing or threatening behaviour that an individual engages in repeatedly such as following the persons, appearing at a person home or at a place of business, making harassing phone calls, leaving written messages or objects or vandalising persons image or property. Most stalking laws require that the perpetrator make credible threat of violence against the victim; others include threats against the victims’ immediate family and still others require only that the alleged stalkers course of conduct constitute and implied threats.” 

“Majority of cases involve stalking by former intimates, although, strangers’ stalking occurs in the real world and the cyber space. Most victims are women and most stalkers are men.  Stalkers are generally motivated by the desire to control the victim,” he adds.“Cyber stalkers may be located across the streets or across the country. Electronic communication technologies make it much easier to cyber stalkers to encourage third parties to harass or threaten the victim. For instance, posting inflammatory messages to bulletin boards and in chat rooms, causing viewers of that message to sent threatening back to the victim.  Electronic communication technologies also lower the barriers to harassment and threats. A cyber stalker does not need to physically confront the victim,” alerts Dr. D’Costa.

The proper forum of complaint

Ironically, though cyber crimes against women are on the rise, very few cases are reported due to lack of awareness among the victims about the proper forum of complaint as well as the lack of awareness and special departments to investigate such cases. In the back drop of such a situation, Dr. D’Costa who has trained about 150 Goa police officers and assisted them in more than 75 cases of cyber crimes suggests that the following information has to be provided to the police to track the perpetrator. 1. Name of the website where the profile has been created.  2. Profile ID or the name of the profile. 3. When the profile was viewed by the complainant and who informed complainant about the profile?  4. Upon getting the above information the police officer should then communicate to the website administrator with the above information and asking from them the following information. (a) When was the above profile created (Date & Time), (b)When was the profile last updated (Date & Time), (c) Geo Location from where the profile was made (IP address and (d) The Internet service providers details through which the profile was made.“The above information has to be provided by the website administrator within 48 hours if the server of the website is hosted in India and within 45 days if the server is hosted outside India. On failure to provide the information by the service to the officer, an offence could be registered under Section 67C of the Indian Penal Code (IPC),” he concludes.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Dr. Harold D’costa is official trainer & principal consultant to Maharashtra police. He has trained about 150 Police officers from Goa & assisted them in more than 75 cases of cyber crime. Overall he has assisted various state police department in more than 2,000 cases of cyber crime. Presently he is training All India Police through Maharashtra Intelligence Academy.

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Men Gossip More Than Women Do

This is no male bashing... that men gossip may not be news, but that they do more than women, really is. A recent study by Onepoll -- a global research company, has concluded that men spend an average 76 minutes a day tittle-tattling with their friends or work colleagues, compared to just 52 minutes for women. The study has dispelled the long standing myth about women chin wagging, writes N Laxmi.

If you always thought that men are those great silent folks who hold secrets dearly, make ideal friends much better than women and are not as catty as their female counterparts, you need to think again.

A recent study concludes men gossip more than women do. Yes. Even those seemingly formal ones with stern frowns, transform into cackling teenagers when dishing on salacious gossip and those men too, who don business suits and walk into board rooms, gossip all the way to the front door.

Moreover, a recent study states that men are the bigger chatterboxes (may be because they aren’t as good as women when it comes to expressing themselves). A study has decoded the myth about women gossip as it found out that men spend an average 76 minutes a day gossiping with their friends or work colleagues, compared to just 52 minutes for women. Favorite topics of men gossip include the antics of drunken friends, old school friends, and the most attractive girl at work, states the report.

The study found the office is the preferred place for men to exchange gossip as against women who prefer to confide in their friends from the comfort of their own homes. A third of men are happiest when chatting with work colleagues, and 58 per cent admit that being a gossip makes them feel "part of the gang," states the report.

Furthermore it states that 31 per cent of men feel that having a gossip with their partner is actually better than sexual relations as topics of gossip include local news, rumours about possible relationships in the office or the boss, promotions, sex and salaries.

And if you always thought that women are the ones who love to spread rumours and gossip about friends behind their back, here’s more! The poll proves that more men than women are guilty of spreading rumours. So men aren't just as bad as women, they're worse!

Men just love a bit of scandal, and will do anything they can to be centre of attention with their colleagues and peers, says the study adding that men's discussions are more influenced by what is happening at work or at social circles. A fifth of those asked said they spent at least three hours a day gossiping - mainly at work - with the main topics including women colleagues and who is in line for promotion, the poll indicates.

Study or otherwise, the debate rages on as many women who placed their view point here strongly believe that men gossip and they really do. Civil engineer Shalini Rebello says, “I came across all kinds of men including introverts, talkative, and those few men who spoke a lot but surely spoke well and made sense. They could convince you pretty easily. It’s widely believed that women tend to criticize people behind their backs but men are virtually best at that. And they go scot-free as nobody even talks about this aspect of men,” she opines.

Roma Dessai shares a similar view. “Often when I travel from work, I come across men who talk on and on about what he said and she said. In fact after listening to them for 45 minutes (till I reach Margao from Panjim) I know everything about them and their families and even their friends. Worse still, even about whose marriage is on the rocks and so on and so forth,” says the banker, adding, “Men gossip but they like to play as if they don't. They do. Everyone needs to vent and express how they feel. However when a man talks about other people's business rather than his own, it seems awful.”

Dr. Zubaida Sheikh has much to add. “That men gossip need not be supported by any study. All women who share working space with men will agree that men are great chatterboxes and gossip about women, especially of the office. They do not hesitate an inch when it comes to spreading rumours about them. But they love to believe that chin-wagging by them amounts to a healthy discussion and that malicious gossip is the domain of women and women alone. I can state from experience that men get away with all this because they are united and support each other while women don’t. That is why gossip by men is not spoken about much.”

While the debate goes on and on, there are the others who feel that not all men gossip. “My best friend is a male. I share a lot of my life experiences with him and has grown to realize that he has been a constant support. For several years now, there has never been a case where he has discussed me with anybody else, especially to those who do not matter. Not one secret has been let out. So I trust him much more than my female friends,” software engineer Siddhi Borkar says.

Similarly feels Karishma Sinai, a chartered accountant. “I know men gossip. But not all men fall in that category. I know a number of women who trust men more than women. That does not mean that I am demeaning my own gender,” she adds quickly.

So does that make us to conclude that gossiping is not bound by gender alone but that it is rather an issue of personalities? Think about it.