Times View

HYDERABAD: In a massive drive against internet cafes allowing underage boys to watch pornography on the sly, police picked up dozens of teenagers and the cafe owners, and then shockingly, paraded the children in front of the media.The police claim that the action against the erring internet centres was initiated after many parents complained to them about their wards being lured by these obscene videos. The parents said that their children were visiting these internet centres on the pretext of completing school and college project work.Late on Tuesday night, the special teams of police swooped down on as many as 92 internet centres in all 17 police station limits of South Zone and took into custody 47 minor boys aged between 12 and 16 years. Cops said that this is the first time such an initiative has been taken.Addressing a gathering of media, deputy commissioner of police (South Zone) V Satyanarayana shockingly produced the minor boys who were taken into custody after they were alleged to found videos on pornographic sites. The minors were counselled in the custody of their parents.The police also found that many internet centres were flouting norms. These include the management not maintaining registers of the internet users, non-installation of CCTV cameras in the Centre’s vicinity and allowing the minor boys watching pornography and “objectionable videos and pictures”. A large number of these centres are located under the Santoshnagar, Bahadurpura and Chatrinaka police station limits.In total, the cops booked 37 cases against the internet centre owners, out of which 16 were booked under 292 IPC (sale of grossly indecent or obscene matter). Others were booked under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) and also Hyderabad City Police Act, which can put them behind bars for six months to two years. “We are still verifying the role of few other cyber-cafe owners who were allowing the minors to watch porn,” the DCP said.Satyanarayana also said that the special drive against the internet centres was taken up as an effort to curb cyber offences and to discourage minors from watching pornography, objectionable videos and other content.At a time when the city police commissioner has issued instruction to police stations not to “show” those accused of criminal charges before the media, it is shocking that the South Zone police have paraded minors in front of the media, under the pretext of “counselling”. Earlier this year, the South Zone police embarked on “counselling” youngsters, including minors, at the Quli Qutub Shah Stadium, in presence of the media.