13 July,2025 09:33 AM IST | Mumbai | Tanisha Banerjee
Illustration/Uday Mohite
In 2015, Misbah Quadri, then 25, moved into a rented flat in Wadala after landing a new job. But peace was fleeting. In a housing issue, she gave an interview to the media which ended up becoming a national issue. Fake Facebook profiles using her name and photos began surfacing, posting inflammatory communal content and doctored images. Soon, people she didn't know were threatening her. "They started saying I was in the flesh trade, that I was a struggling actress. My pictures from parties, picked up from my social media, were weaponised. I felt hunted," she says. The hate, misrepresentation, and doxxing with her personal details posted publicly pushed her to leave the city for some years.
Her experience, though a decade old, mirrors what many women in Maharashtra still face. On July 7, mid-day reported on how cybercrime cases in the state have surged from 418 in 2015 to a staggering 1845 in 2024. However, while reports increase, justice plummets as witnessed by the fact that charge-sheet filings dropped from 57 per cent in 2015 to a remarkable zero in 2023 and 2024. As a result, convictions are rare to find.
Globally, the Council of Europe found that 58 per cent of girls in the EU faced online harassment. In the UK, 36 per cent of women feared for their physical safety; 20 per cent endured cyber sexual harassment. Yet in India, systemic documentation and redressal of such crimes remains sparse.
Quadri's case became political. "Political parties offered me party tickets. The debate moved from governance to religion. But because I was a woman, my background, personality, even my clothes were examined," she says. Navigating the chaos alone, she recalls visiting the police with armfuls of printed screenshots, signing affidavits and trying to prove the content wasn't hers. "I was hijacked by the media. I just wanted my peace and identity back."
According to Persis Sidhva, Director at RATI (Rights. Action. Technology. Inclusion.) Foundation, this victim-blaming is not rare. "In cases of online sexual violence, the police often wait until the harm becomes public or until the image is circulated before registering an FIR," she says. The burden is placed on women to prove abuse, rather than prevent it.
In 2024 alone, RATI received 140 calls, 76 per cent of them from women. Female survivors - unlike male victims who are often extorted for money - face demands that are personal and sexual, frequently from known perpetrators.
Siddharth Pillai, co-founder of RATI, says doxxing, which is exposing someone's personal information online, is common, and deeply dangerous. "We've had women doxxed online forced to relocate. Their safety, their routines, everything is shattered." Many cases originate from intimate partners. "When relationships end, men leak personal data or explicit pictures, or impersonate women to humiliate them," he explains.
Increasingly, AI is adding a disturbing layer. "Deepfake nudity apps are targeting mid-level influencers. They take a reel and insert a nude image of the woman. Even though it's fake, the damage can be real," Pillai says. He's also seeing a rise in voyeurism : "Simple clips of women cooking, dancing or even sleeping are being sexualised and circulated."
Cyber psychologist Nirali Bhatia, founder of Cyber Baap, says this humiliation can be psychologically crippling. "When a woman's image is used without consent, shame takes over. She's seen as the one who âshould have known better'. Society doesn't try to understand women. It fabricates stories, labels her, and moves on."
Nirali adds that cybercrime is more than technology and a lot about emotion. "Women are raised to trust, to nurture. In a romance scam, a woman is groomed for weeks. Her fears are studied, her desires exploited."
Cybercrime expert Ritesh Bhatia says romance scams targeting women are disturbingly methodical. "The scammer pretends to be an army officer, or someone from abroad. He'll use deepfakes to avoid video calls, send fake credentials, even play airport sounds in the background." The victim is convinced to send money, sometimes lakhs, under the belief he's stuck at customs, bringing her expensive gifts.
However, most cybercrime cases against women are sexual in nature. "Police stations are drowning in these complaints," Ritesh says, "but there's no digital sensitivity. Officers are trained for visible wounds, not invisible trauma."
And even when a case is registered, filing a chargesheet or achieving conviction is rare. Internationally recognised cyber law and privacy expert Puneet Bhasin, who is also the founder of Cyberjure Legal Consulting and Expert representative for India at United Nations DPG Alliance, explains why. "SIM cards and bank accounts used are often fake. The criminals are shielded by corporate negligence of banks and telecom companies failing KYC norms. It makes the entire investigation a waste of taxpayer money." Bhasin insists the laws are sufficient. It is the interpretation, training, and implementation that lag behind. "The police gather evidence. But if it all points to fake IDs, the trail goes cold."
She also points out a gendered hesitation. "Women fear speaking up, especially in sextortion cases. Even if there's a female officer at the station, the idea of talking about private images to a stranger when you haven't even told your family is terrifying."
Interestingly, many women who fall prey to scams aren't tech-illiterate. "The younger women who come to us are aware," says Nirali. "But they're caught in a societal double bind. One woman lost '45,000 to a fake investment reel targeted at housewives. It wasn't the money, it was the shame that stopped her from reporting." Society has always been unforgiving towards a woman's mistake. Both Nirali and Sidhva reported cases where the woman was unwilling to go to the police because the sheer fear of humiliation from her family and getting scoffed at by society had overpowered their senses.
Moreover, the emotional manipulation is brutal. "They (scammers) will gaslight you, flatter you, flood you with attention. And once you're in, they use that emotional intimacy against you," Nirali adds. Pillai agrees, "These predators do their research. They know what makes victims feel heard. That's how grooming works."
Both Nirali and Pillai argue that placing the onus on women to be "smart" isn't fair. "Every day, each one of us receives multiple messages trying to scam us. You have to avoid them every single time. If you slip up even once, you are trapped. The system must not allow this to continue," says Pillai. In matters related to getting justice, many survivors give up halfway. Sidhva explains that producing digital evidence in court is a nightmare. "You need a clean chain of custody, screenshots, affidavits." If even one link breaks, the accused walks free. Meanwhile, platforms offer little relief. "Yes, they have grievance officers. But unless escalated by a lawyer or the police, they're slow to respond," says Pillai.
Even the comment section can become a court of shame. "We've seen harassment as a networked activity! Groups of people provoked into spamming or humiliating a woman online in the name of cultural outrage," he adds.
So what can women do? Unfortunately, they have to start with caution in cyber spaces too, pay extra attention to details. "Extreme flattery from strangers is a red flag," says Pillai. "So is claiming to be in the army or BSF or the police."
Nirali recommends setting social media accounts to private if they're not for professional use. "Reverse-search profile images, verify credentials, and never rush. Scams are built on urgency," she says. "Make decisions during the day when your mind is sharper." And document everything." Quadri, now in PR, says, "Back then, I was not out to investigate - only to state facts. Now I ensure I have valid proof - be it for a receipt or a conversation. I've learnt to safeguard my digital self."
But ultimately, experts say, it's not women who need to change, but the system. "We need platform accountability, police training, and digital empathy," says Ritesh. "We need to believe women."
Sidhva and the team at RATI continue to support survivors with counselling, takedown support, and legal guidance. "Our role is to remind them that they are not alone. Their shame isn't theirs. Their voice matters."
At the end of her interview, Quadri reflects, "I was a kid alone in this city. And it happened again and again. I felt demeaned and unsafe in a city like Mumbai. But I will continue to speak up because I know my rights."
Cybercrime steals your dignity along with your data. But with the right help, women are taking it back, byte by byte.
140
Number of calls RATI received in 2024 alone. Of these, 76 per cent were from women
. âVerify before you accept a friend request, or even reply to a post on X
. âOn dating sites, do a reverse image search of the person's profile picture. Look them up on sites such as LinkedIn, and ask them for information
. âThere is never a perfect package. If a date or an investment sounds too good to be true, it's probably not real
. âDo not rush. Every scam will try to make you hurry up and pay. And don't believe in easy money
. âDon't share pictures of yourself that are not already in public domain (such as your social media display images)
