Recently in Srikakulam a 14 year-old-boy reportedly raped an eight-year-old minor girl and in Gajuwaka area of Visakhapatnam, a 16-year-old allegedly tried to molest a 10-year-old girl in the neighbourhood.
Rapes against minors are on rise and at least 25 such cases have been reported from the districts of Visakhapatnam, Srikakulam and Vizianagaram this year. And of the 25 odd cases, in about 8 cases both victims and accused were minors. This trend is a worrying factor for the police.
In 90% of the cases, where both victims and accused are minors, there is a common thread binding them and that is access to porn sites in mobile phones, said ACP Ramchandra Rao.
In both the Srikakulam and Gajuwaka case, the accused confessed that pornography was the stimulant. Unrestricted access to porn sites, especially through smart phones, is a problem for youngsters.
The age from 12 to 16 is crucial stage when adolescence creeps in. The release of hormones such as testosterone and oxytocin are very high and youngsters can get stimulated very easily, said Prof. N.N. Raju, former superintendent of Government Hospital for Mental Care.
This age is a very dangerous one and biological urge takes over psychological inhibitions, and youngsters do not think twice before committing a crime, he added.
Acquiescing with Prof. Raju, DCP (Law and Order) K. Fakkeerappa, said unrestricted access to pornography on Internet, be it through smart phones or computers and affordable cost for data download, is aiding the flow of pornography. “We have blocked child pornography but there is no law to ban adult content,” he said.
According to him parents should play a key role. “Parents should desist from giving smart phones and if it is given, they should have some control or check. In computers we can have firewalls to block certain sites, probably such measures can be taken in phones also,” he said.
Police officers say laws concerning pornography are not very clear.
“Public view is punishable, but we cannot encroach upon private life. We can arrest someone selling pornography material such as books or CDs, but we cannot stop its flow through Internet,” said Dr. Fakkeerappa.
Sumit Bhattacharjee
