The News Minute| August 6, 2014| 3.00 pm IST
In 2013, the media in Kerala and people in general were fascinated by one woman. Cameras followed her everywhere; news bulletins would be incomplete without her interviews. Ever since the “solar scam” broke out in 2013, one of the accused Saritha S. Nair became a household name. The salacious tales she doled out about her affairs with politicians, her accounts of how many politicians helped her and partner Biju Radhakrishnan to swindle money to the tune of crores of rupees off people by promising them solar energy solutions- had become a matter of daily discussion.
Saritha went to jail, Saritha came out on bail, Saritha went to a hospital, Saritha tried to become a philanthropist- Saritha was everywhere.
But in the last weeks, Saritha Nair has become a distant memory. There are two new women protagonists who have become the new obsession- Bindiya and Ruksana.
Ruksana.B.Das, Bindiya Thomas, advocate Sanilan, Jeyachandran and Prajeesh Thomas are the accused in the ‘Kochi sex blackmail case.’
The gang would trap men, especially NRIs by luring them using the women. The gang used to record sexual encounters which the woman had with the victims and later blackmail them. The case came out after an NRI complained to the police that he was being blackmailed for Rs 3 crore.
Elaborate interviews of Ruksana and Bindiya, in which they claim ‘prominent’ people were helping are being aired by various channels. The gang used spy cameras, phone recorders and other devices in their web of deceit. What has also caught everyone’s fancy is that Bindiya used to imitate a man’s voice and make calls to victims.
The case is serious as one of the victims of the gang had committed suicide. One of the accused in the case was arrested from a room in the MLA hostel, Thiruvananthapuram that was rented out in the name of a former Congress MLA. The two women are the main accused in the case and have been accused of driving one of the men to commit suicide. On Wednesday, a court rejected their bail pleas.
The rise of sexual and economic crimes in Kerala is alarming. In most of these cases, news about prominent people being involved has not been proved. In the solar scam and sex blackmail case, there are many loose ends and unanswered questions.
There are serious questions to be asked, the police needs to do a proper crackdown on such rackets- but meanwhile Bindiya, Ruksana and their antics are getting primetime coverage.