Child Sexual Abuse in India On Rise

According to recent Interpol data, India reported over 24 lakh cases of online child sexual abuse over the last three years (2017–2020), with girls under the age of 14 accounting for 80 per cent of the victims.

After observing the reports, the CBO has started a massive operation against the alleged peddlers of online child sexual abuse material (CSAM) in India, with several websites under the scanner for their liability in hosting such material. 

A senior official said that the Interpol data is worrisome as it shows that more than 2 million people were the victims of online child sexual abuse. He further stated that the CBI has targeted 50 online social media groups with 5,000 participants from across the globe who share and peddle CSAM.

It is reported that the central agency will now coordinate with foreign law enforcement agencies of these countries to bring the accused to book and locate the origin of CSAM.

Another official stated that "a lot of the accused booked by the agency were minting regular money by disseminating CSAM by sharing links, videos, pictures, texts, posts and hosting of these groups and platforms, as well as third-party storage and hosting platforms".

Sources said that the CBI also plans to coordinate with the International Child Sexual Exploitation Database to compare the child sexual abuse images in order to trace the origin of the same. To date, the CBI has carried out searches at 77 locations across 14 states and arrested seven people.

The CBI action WAS based on information provided by its special unit "Online Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Prevention/Investigation (OCSAE)," which tracks and monitors postings, circulation, and downloads of Child Sexual Exploitation Material (CSEM) on the internet.