Internet addiction among children is a cause for concern for new age parents. However, when a few parents approached the Hyderabad police’s South Zone with complaints that their children were spending long hours in internet cafes, little did the police anticipate what they would find.
On Tuesday, special teams of policemen went to 92 internet cafes in all 17 police station limits of South Zone. In an operation that stretched across a few hours, the police took into custody 65 minors between 11 to 17 years.
These minors, most of them cocooned in the secrecy and privacy that the cubicles in the cafes provided, were watching pornography - some of it videos of real crimes like murder and rape - on the internet.
“Some parents approached the police complaining that their children were spending more time at internet cafes, claiming that they needed internet access to do their homework, but parents found it suspicious,” DCP of South Zone, V Satyanarayana, told The News Minute.
The police officers were taken back by the extreme brutality of the videos that the children were hooked to.
“On Tuesday, we caught 65 children from 37 internet cafes in the city watching pornography and disturbing videos of rape and murder online,” Satyanarayana said.
He added that while some of the minors had come alone, many had come in small groups of 3 or 4 to watch these videos.
“They were even skipping classes to come to these internet cafes,” added Satyanarayana.
The minors were counseled, along with their parents and let off by the Hyderabad police.
The police booked 37 cased against internet cafe owners and found that they were violating many norms. While most did not have registers for users, others did not have CCTV cameras installed inside the centres.
Of the 37 cases, 16 were booked under 292 IPC (sale of grossly indecent or obscene matter), while everyone was booked under Section 188 of the IPC (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant).
"We are also investigating if the minors were using the dark web and whether the cafe owners also provided porn material to watch,” the DCP said.
The police, however, have come under flak for parading the minors before the media on Wednesday. Media persons were allowed to take pictures and videos of the minors who were brought out without masking.
Children watching pornography
Children accessing pornography is a concern for parents across the world. Many parenting experts advise parents not to overreact, but to engage with the child. It is important to understand that children are sexually aware and that pornography does not affect every child in the same manner.
Studying the effects of such exposure is a difficult subject of research as it comes under a grey area within ethics. However, the limited studies that have been done show that exposure to pornography does leave an impact on children and even adults. This includes children wanting to indulge in sex early, experimenting with high risk sex and attitudinal changes towards relationships.