Protect your children from cyber predators, counsellor in UAE says

[email protected] (Gulf News)
June 18, 2012
Protect_your_children

Abu Dhabi, June 18: A counsellor was shocked to hear from a teenager that he had sold his sister’s nude video on internet to make money.


The expatriate family in the UAE took him to the counsellor when he was found bunking the classes and exams of his professional course back home.


“They thought he might be addicted to drugs but it was something else. He was lured by pornography mafia on the internet, which offer money in lieu of providing pornography contents,” said Mohammad Mustafa, an Information Technology professional.


Mustafa, an Indian resident in Abu Dhabi, has established a Non-Governmental Organisation namely Developing Internet Safe Community (DISC) Foundation in India to raise awareness about internet safety. The foundation is planning to expand its awareness activities in the UAE and other Gulf states also soon.

Mustafa was sharing an experience of a counsellor associated with his organisation. He said the boy placed a secret video camera in the sisters’ bedroom and sold the video to the mafia which offered him attractive remuneration, Mustafa said.


“Luckily that video did not spread on internet and the family never came to know about it; otherwise they would have committed suicide. It still remains a secret between the boy and the counsellor,” he explained.

The guy came back to normal life after long counselling sessions, he said.


Pornography is a multi-billion dollar industry which seeks fresh pictures and videos in lieu of money, he said. Worldwide pornography revenue in 2006 was $97.06 billion (Dh 356.21 billion) which was expected to be doubled in 2011.


“They lure youngsters online into the trade to gather unique or fresh content,” Mustafa said. The deceived youngsters may create contents from their own home, when they are unable to find it outside, he explained.


The surveys in the US have indicated that 90 per cent of children age 8-16 have viewed pornography online (many while doing homework).


Adults as well as children receive unsolicited email attempting to redirect them to a pornographic site.


“A hacker can easily control your webcam to take pictures or videos at your home and place software in your computer to steal photos or videos, if you don’t protect them properly,” Mustafa said.


Apart from the problem of falling victims to pornography mafia, his organisation plans to conduct awareness classes and presentations for parents and children about the various threats in cyber world such as cyber sex addiction, cyber bullying, online harassment or cyber stalking, identity theft, cyber-relationship addiction, violent and hateful contents, online gambling addiction etc.


To avoid such problems, the foundation wants to propagate the practical tips among people. It wants to help to teach internet etiquette, technically secure the computer, monitor children’s online activities, data mine with popular search engines etc.


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Agencies
January 6,2020

New Delhi, Jan 6: A blind student who is pursuing research in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) was also attacked by the mob that perpetrated violence in the University yesterday.

"I thought that the mob which came yesterday would disperse after raising a few slogans but they indulged in violence. They were targeting ABVP students. They beat me with sticks and rods. When I went to the AIIMS Trauma Centre, I came to know that there are many other injured students there," Surya Prakash, the blind student pursuing research in the University told ANI.

"I talked to my family members. They are really worried about the situation here. I qualified in the National Eligibility Test (NET) last year but I want to study and hence I am continuing research in JNU. How can we do anything in this atmosphere of fear? I am receiving calls from anonymous numbers threatening me not to come in front of the media. They are saying that as I am blind, I would become the face of this case," he added.

Another PhD student, Santosh Bhagat recounted his experience.

"In the evening at around 7 pm, many masked men entered the hostel. They had rods and sticks in their hands. We tried to go out but the attackers had entered the premises by then. I locked my room from inside but the attackers broke the door and entered my room and attacked me. They pushed me from the first floor and I fell down and sustained an injury. Later, I took shelter at one of the Professor's flat. Later, I was taken to the AIIMS Trauma Cantre," Bhagat said.

On Sunday evening, more than 30 students of the university, including JNUSU President Aishe Ghosh, were injured and were taken to the AIIMS Trauma Centre after a masked mob entered the JNU and attacked them and professors with sticks and rods.

The JNU administration and political leaders, cutting across political lines, condemned the attack on students and urged the police to take action against the perpetrators.

Meanwhile, the situation remained tense but peaceful outside JNU on Monday morning as the university guards maintained a strict vigil at the gate, checking I-cards of all those entering the university.

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Agencies
March 15,2020

Mumbai, Mar 15: Three suspected coronavirus patients who were quarantined left a government hospital in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar district on Saturday evening without informing anybody, the police said.

By late night, however, two of them returned to the Ahmednagar district civil hospital. Search was on for the third patient, a Topkhana police station officer said.

Earlier, two women and a man admitted to an isolation ward of the district hospital in Ahmednagar, left without informing the doctors, an officer said.

The civil surgeon contacted the Tophkhana police station in Ahmednagar city and sought polices help in tracing these persons, whose medical reports are awaited, the official added.

A person in Ahmednagar district is among the 31 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Maharashtra.

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Agencies
May 24,2020

Kanpur, May 24: Three persons onboard separate Shramik Special trains lost their lives due to various ailment, officials said here on Saturday.

"Family members of the deceased said all were suffering from serious ailment. The travel history of all the three deceased passengers was taken, Kanpur District Magistrate Brahma Deo Ram Tiwari said.

Giving details about the deceased, he said Naichinalyu Disang (23), a resident of Nagaland, was going from Delhi to Dimapur.

"She was suffering from liver ailments," Tiwari said. As she coughed and vomited in the train, other passengers got terrified, he added.

The district magistrate said the body reached Kanpur Central Station at around 10.00 am.

Sample has been taken to check for the presence of novel coronavirus. She was working at a spa in Himachal Pradesh, he said.

Tiwari said Rajendra Prasad (50), a resident of Unnao, died on the Lucknow-bound special train from Andhra Pradesh.

Munni Devi (80), a resident of Siwan district in Bihar, died onboard the special train going from Surat to Siwan, the senior official informed.

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