Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
The ghastly rape and murder of a 31-year-old trainee doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on the night of August 8 sparked massive outrage and protests, bringing authorities under the scanner for their handling of the investigation, while leading to a Supreme Court (SC) hearing and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) taking over the case. A civic worker has been arrested in connection to the crime that has “shocked the conscience of the nation”, drawing international attention too.
Even as the case continues to unfold, a few sickening internet trends have emerged, one of them being an alarming number of fake social media profiles created in the name of the victim mushrooming online, apparently to garner more web traffic and followers.
Revealing Victim’s Identity
The fake accounts exacerbate the gross violation of the law against sharing the details of rape or identity of any sexual assault victims, which was flagged by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud during the hearing of the case on August 20.
Anyone who prints or publishes the name or any information that could reveal the identity of a victim of offences like rape or sexual assault could be punished with imprisonment for up to two years, as per section 72 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, which replaced the Indian Penal Code.
Following a Supreme Court order, the ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) has asked all social media platforms to remove the name and photograph of the victim, also directing the platforms to inform the ministry’s cyber laws division about the action taken in compliance.
But despite orders, the victim’s identity including name and photograph continue to do the rounds on social media platforms. Newschecker spotted at least five fake Instagram profiles impersonating the victim, featuring her photograph and personal details.
Similarly, graphic cards carrying her image and name are also still in circulation on social media despite the SC order.
Shocking Search Trends
According to a Business Insider report, the exploitation of the case and the victim is symptomatic of recurring, troubling bursts of online curiosity, particularly around alleged rape footage, reflecting a deeper tendency of objectifying women and normalising violence against them. A few also saw the heinous crime as a way to make extra money, evidenced by the high search volume for the rape videos across multiple platforms after unverified rumours that the assault and murder had been filmed and uploaded to the internet.
Searches for terms like “*victim’s name* rape video” and “*victim’s name* porn” spiked as the news spread (a 160%-190% surge), reportedly revealed data from Google Trends, further proving that what should have been a moment of mourning and igniting demands for justice instead became “fodder for voyeuristic consumption”.
Experts and activists say certain strains in human psychology and the easy access to the internet, and often to extreme pornographic content, can contribute towards a large number of people watching and sharing such videos. Psychiatrists attribute the watching of such videos to an inherent tendency in human beings to be voyeuristic witnesses to miseries befalling others.
“As long as it’s not happening to me or my loved ones, the pain and violence are okay – that’s the common psyche,” Dr Nimesh Desai, former director of the Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences (IHBAS), had told Hindustan Times, in relation to the 2015 arrest of a driver in Bengaluru for circulating videos of rapes and gang-rapes.
The Kolkata rape-murder case further highlights the need for a broader conversation on the desensitisation to violence against women and the role of online platforms in enabling it with studies arguing that the easy, ubiquitous presence of graphic content on social media tends to “numb” audiences to tragedy — normalising it a certain way.
Fodder For Reels
Also, the online trends fuel a rampant rape culture — the social environment that allows sexual violence to be normalised and justified — through inappropriate jokes using assault survivors and victims as the punchline as seen in many social media posts in the wake of the Kolkata case, along with clickbait videos feeding off the trending topic.
Recently, influencer Sarah Sarosh deleted an Instagram reel, which showed her getting ready and doing her makeup while the voiceover touched the Kolkata case, causing users to criticise Sarosh for her “distasteful and insensitive video” that trivialises the issue.
Similarly, we came across dramatic skits based on the case, seen here, here, here and here, while another reel uploaded by a beauty influencer sees her trying to recreate the state of the victim using makeup.
Some of the users criticised the reels, set to the tunes of popular songs, for making a mockery of the actual case as they called out the blatant attempts to garner views and praise by capitalising on trending hashtags.
But the larger question remains: Are these social media trends prompting a new wave of apathy among users, where crimes, no matter how heinous, are reduced to likes and views, or have they only given voice to a much darker, innate human tendency?
Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
