Nasty spurt in tease on net
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With these words from Constantine Cavafy’s poem Ithaca, she set out on what she hoped would be the beginning of some wonderful friendships on the Net. Instead, she is now living out a nightmare on the Net.
The 20-year-old daughter of an officer with a central law-enforcing agency recently made what she thought was a harmless posting on Orkut — a popular online community — seeking “straight-minded” friends with “a good sense of humour”. She was in for a pleasant surprise — within a week, she was reunited on the Net with friends she had long lost touch with. Then came the nasty shock — a posting on the same site with her photograph, but with the Ithaca lines replaced by a single-line of self-introduction: “I am a sex loving person”. If this was not enough, the photo album was full of doctored nude pictures and the how-to-contact slot had her cellphone number. The real horror of virtual harassment had begun for the second-year student of a south Calcutta college. Soon, the inbox of her cellphone was flooded with obscene SMSs. “I also received a number of phone calls with lewd remarks and proposals. I just had to switch off,” said the traumatised girl. “I am shocked. I did not even create the profile in my real name. But I found my name in the fake profile. Whoever is the culprit must be knowing me,” she added. More... |
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