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On Bengaluru’s Namma Metro, where thousands of commuters travel daily, women have become unwitting targets of digital voyeurism. An Instagram page called metro_chicks openly uploaded secretly recorded videos of female passengers. These clips, often zoomed in on women’s bodies and faces, were shared publicly to over 5,000 followers, along with a Telegram link which had similar content.
The account had uploaded 14 videos in total, each one objectifying women on the metro. Though comments were disabled, the videos often featured captions like “finding beautiful girls on Namma Metro.” The majority of these videos zoomed in on women's torsos, with some featuring disturbing background music.
Responding to the public outcry, the Banashankari police registered an FIR on May 20, under Section 67 of the Information Technology Act, 2008 (for publishing or transmitting obscene material electronically) and Section 78(2) of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita, 2023 (stalking). The videos were deleted and the Telegram channel taken down. However, the Instagram account still remains.
Until Tuesday, May 20, the Instagram account had 5,605 followers. By Wednesday, the number had crossed 6,000. The now-deleted Telegram channel had 1,188 subscribers.
Women and child rights activists say that the secret filming of women in public spaces is not just a violation of privacy, it is becoming normalised. They point out that such illegal and non-consensual content is rampant across social media platforms, and the trend has only worsened in recent years.
Brinda Adige, a member of Global Concerns India, which also works towards supporting survivors of child sexual abuse, said that she regularly receives distress calls from women facing digital abuse. “In a month, we get around seven or eight such cases,” she said. Some of them reach out to express concerns about their pictures being posted online without concern. They would say “It’s my face, but not my body. What should I do next? Where can I go?” Others say, “This was a chat friend from Facebook or Snapchat. Now he’s threatening to post a photo I once shared in confidence. What can I do to get it removed?” she said.
What was once considered shocking is now increasingly brushed off, the activists point out, as more and more women find their images and videos shared online without consent, often for voyeuristic consumption.
Cynthia Stephen, an independent journalist who has worked in the field of women's rights for over three decades, says that systemic change will require both institutional accountability and public pressure. She also said this was not just a women’s issue. “Men also need to step up, call out those who post and consume such content, and become vocal allies. When men also start questioning and criticising the internet, the climate will shift against such violence,” she said.
Both Brinda and Cynthia stress that the rise in such cyber violations is not due to the absence of laws, but rather their poor implementation.
“If the content on that Instagram page was shared without the consent of the women involved, the cyber police are mandated to take suo moto (on their own motion) action,” Brinda says. “The government needs to take proper action regarding such crimes. If they can do Swachh Bharat, then they can also do Surakshit Bharat.”
Cynthia said the role of the public is quite important in such cases of digital crimes where women are filmed or photographed without their consent. “We should engage the public by saying that if you are a bystander in these situations, by being silent, you are also complicit. We should motivate people not to be passive bystanders but actively participate to prevent such crimes.”
When it comes to legal recourse, the path is far from straightforward. Poorna Ravishankar, a lawyer and researcher with the Alternate Law Forum, says that cybercrime laws in India are narrowly defined, so narrowly, in fact, that they often don’t apply unless a woman comes forward and files a complaint herself.
“There are certain legal provisions that allow groups or individuals to flag offensive content,” she says. “But most strong legal charges like sexual harassment can only be invoked if a woman directly affected files a formal complaint.”
Asked about what steps a woman should take if she finds herself in such a situation, Poorna says, “If a woman knows she has been secretly filmed or her images are being misused online, she can file a complaint with the cybercrime police. But that’s where the challenges really begin.”
Poorna points to the broader culture of impunity in cases involving digital and sexual crimes against women. “The system doesn’t take offences against women as seriously as it should. In many instances, in serious offences of a sexual nature, the police try to calm the survivor down and tone down the nature of the complaint. So, there is a certain impunity in society when it comes to crimes against women, especially of a sexual nature.”
The reluctance from the system creates another layer of trauma for survivors, she says. “Our system emboldens such impunity rather than trying to break that down by ensuring proper punishment. The survivor in this case is repeatedly punished, at every level she faces challenges when they approach the system for help. Hence, many women don’t even complain.”
“When an average woman who doesn’t have a support system asks for help, she is left to fend for herself, and nobody wants to be in that situation. The legal and judicial framework of the country doesn’t address this impunity,” adds Poorna.
TNM has reached out to BMRCL for a response. This article will be updated if and when they respond.