Internet has been an effective source of information and thought to be a very powerful and effective tool but it has its dark side where due to lack of proper understanding and knowledge it is wrongly perceived and acknowledged.
Especially in the least developed countries, internet has been passed on without any preparation. The lack of proper policies, knowledge and mechanism has results in rise in cybercrime and other safety issues regarding women and children. In fact to be specific the cyber bullying and sexual exploitation has been increased in terms of women and children.
According to the Metropolitan Police Commissioner’s Office, “The data shows the crime rates have gone up this fiscal year by 24.14 per cent as compared to last fiscal year. Cybercrimes have adopted a new form of more organized pattern where its dynamics are changing. To be precise as many as 34 cases of cybercrime were reported this fiscal year, where only 16 cases were reported last year.”
The increase in cybercrime cases has been linked to the rise in the number of Internet users and access to social networking sites, posing a threat to people’s personal security, dignity and identity. Cybercrime includes e-mail threat, website disputes, web SMS threat, illegal data access, cheating via web mail, obscene website operation and phishing.
It was reported that a 6-year-old girl was raped by a 14-year-old boy in a corn field at Lumphabung in Panchthar district in east Nepal. During investigation the boy confessed to have committed the crime after watching a pornographic film on a mobile handset. The girl was admitted in the Panchthar Hospital where her parents reported the police about the incident. The culprit had lured the girl to the field and
Devi Katuwal, 28, a resident of Panchami VDC, was arrested for attempted rape in September 2014. He has been accused of attempting to rape a 20-year-old woman from Amarpur VDC while watching a porn film on a mobile handset.
From mid-July to mid-September 2014, a total of 36 criminal cases were registered with the Panchthar District Police Office, out of which 20 were related with violence against women. All the petitioners of the cases have mentioned that they were being troubled by the perpetrators on the mobile phone, facebook or by email.
According to a report made public by the Informal Sector Service Centre (INSEC), a human rights organisation, from mid-July to mid-September 2014, 10 out of the 14 cases of human rights violation were related to violence against women. And most of them were committed using the latest technologies.
People are getting exploited unknowingly, they just want to use technology but due to lack of proper knowledge they have to face the harsh aspect of internet technology. It’s not their fault that they want to use the technology but with limited resources and lack of awareness people suffer. The Nepal government needs to think about the growing prospect of safe guarding the use of technology and how to make individual user safe online.
