Gurugram: The threats posed by social media to the safety for women came to fore in Gurugram, after a 23-year-old college student was gang-raped by two men who had befriend her through a popular social networking website.
Gurugram Police said the two culprits have been have been arrested, with the main accused identified as Keshav.
The ordeal for the woman began with befriending her through Facebook. After having regular conversation with the woman online, Keshav convinced her to meet in person.
In her police complaint, the woman stated that Keshav reportedly mixed a sedative in her drink that made her unconscious. Keshav and his friend took advantage of her disoriented state and raped her.
The ordeal, however, did not end there for the rape survivor, as the culprits allegedly also filmed the act and tried to blackmail her.
They even forwarded the clip to her fiancée, which led to the breaking of her marriage.
Eventually, she finally gathered courage to file a complaint.
The incident is among the many reported from Gurugram, where the social media is misused to target women.
This year, the number of complaints of online sexual harassment of women has risen by over 40 per cent, compared in 2017.
While this form of cyber crime is not a new phenomenon, many criminals are begin emboldened by the fact there are no stricter laws that enable law enforcement officials to penalise offenders.
Furthermore, the digital medium gives offenders the luxury of anonymity.
Many molesters have exploited social media websites like Twitter, Facebook and other messenger services, as a means of sexually harassing women by sending them lewd messages.
In some cases reported in the district, a man was arrested after a minor complained to the Cyber Police of him harassing her through social media.
It was later highlighted that the accused had constantly pressurised her by sending sexually implicit messages on her social media account for more than six months.
Recently, a man was arrested for posting a clip of his wife in a pornography site.