Experts warn that digital abuse is increasingly weaponised to silence women in public life (IANS)
New Delhi: In the digital world, women, especially politicians and public figures in India, are literally at the receiving end, facing cyberbullying, sexist trolling and online harassment.
Experts warn that digital abuse is increasingly weaponised to silence women in public life. The issue recently came into sharp focus after a complaint was submitted seeking legal action over alleged misogynistic and caste-indicative comments posted on Facebook against Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta. Senior lawyer Mohan Shyam filed complaints with the Delhi Police Commissioner and Facebook’s Grievance & Legal Compliance Officer, alleging cyber harassment, online abuse, and the circulation of objectionable content against a woman holding constitutional office.
In his representations, Shyam alleged that abusive remarks were made in the comment section of a Facebook post uploaded from the profile of AAP MLA and spokesperson Sanjeev Jha. The post reportedly carried a photograph of the CM seated on a chair, triggering comments allegedly comparing her to a “buffalo” and using caste-linked derogatory expressions.
The complaint states that such remarks amount to online harassment, gendered humiliation and caste-based insult directed at a woman holding constitutional office.
Shyam, who is also an expert in digital domain, argues that the comments violate constitutional values of dignity, equality and fraternity, and may attract provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Information Technology Act.
“I have appealed to the authorities to identify the accused accounts, preserve digital evidence and direct Facebook to remove the objectionable content immediately,” Shyam told ETV Bharat.
Several Prominent Women Fall Prey
Over the last two years, several prominent women politicians and journalists became targets of coordinated trolling campaigns, morphed content, abusive comments and misinformation on social media platforms. Among those who faced sustained online attacks were Rekha Gupta, Atishi, Mahua Moitra, Mamata Banerjee, Nirmala Sitharaman, Rana Ayyub etc.
Data indicates that over 76,657 cybercrime incidents against women such as online abuse, obscene content and stalking were reported on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP) in 2025, recording an increase of 28,322 since 2024.
Experts warn that digital abuse is increasingly weaponised to silence women in public life (ETV Bharat)
Increasing Number Of Incidents Year By Year
In a written reply in Parliament recently, Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar said the complaints include cases related to sexually obscene material, sexually explicit acts, rape or gangrape-related sexually abusive content and child sexual abuse material reported online.
Referring to the NCRP data in the last five years, Kumar said the number of such complaints stood at 52,048 in 2021, 62,224 in 2022, 40,066 in 2023, 48,335 in 2024 and 76,657 in 2025.
According to data complaints related to sexually obscene material were the highest in 2025 at 37,743, followed by sexually explicit acts at 19,703, rape or gangrape-related sexually abusive content at 8,780 and child sexual abuse material at 10,431.
“High-profile women leaders in India across political parties, journalists and activists have increasingly faced online harassment, trolling, misogynistic abuse, deepfakes, and coordinated cyberbullying campaigns. The pattern reflects a broader gendered toxicity in Indian digital spaces,” women’s rights activist Annie Raja told ETV Bharat.
Women Politicians Targeted Most On Twitter
According to research by Amnesty International India, women politicians in the country face a shocking scale of abuse on Twitter.
The research entitled Troll Patrol India: Exposing Online Abuse Faced by Women Politicians in India analysed more than 1,14,000 tweets sent to 95 women politicians.
The research found that women are targeted with abuse online not only for their opinions but also for various identities, such as gender, religion, caste, and marital status.
Amnesty’s research found that 13.8 per cent of the tweets in the study were either “problematic” or “abusive”.
Parliamentary Committee Report Highlights Increasing Trend Of Crime
A recent report of a Parliamentary Committee on the Empowerment of Women released in March also highlighted the increasing trend of crime against women, including deepfakes targeting women, online intimidation of women in public life, cyberstalking, sextortion, and coordinated harassment campaigns on social media.
“The complexity of cybercrimes is driven by the use of encrypted apps, VPNs, cloud hosting, virtual numbers, spoofed identities, and fake SIMs. Offenders often operate anonymously, sometimes internationally, using dark web networks and untraceable technologies. Generative AI has made impersonation and sextortion more scalable. Low awareness of cyber laws, social stigma, and limited digital hygiene, especially among minors, make women and children particularly vulnerable,” said the report accessed by ETV Bharat.
Raja said that social media comment sections, meme pages, anonymous accounts, and edited videos have become major tools for such harassment campaigns.
“There is a need for stronger moderation, faster takedowns, and stricter enforcement of cyber laws,” she said.
MHA’s Interference
After the Home Ministry asked the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) to give special attention to the issue, the I4C has started organising national dialogue on “Online Crimes Against Women and Children,” bringing together police agencies, tech companies, policymakers, and civil society groups to improve response mechanisms.
“The I4C has expanded its efforts over the last year to address cyber harassment, online abuse, deepfakes, and cybercrime targeting women, including women in public life,” a senior official aware of the development told ETV Bharat.
The I4C is an initiative under the Ministry of Home Affairs designed to act as a nodal point to curb cybercrime in India. It provides a framework for law enforcement agencies and handles issues ranging from cybercrime to financial fraud to cyber terrorism.
The NCRP was also strengthened to allow reporting of cybercrimes with a “special focus” on crimes against women and children, including anonymous complaints for sexual content and abuse-related cases.
Conviction Rate In Cybercrime Cases A Major Concern
Ironically, despite the increased crackdown on cybercrime, conviction rate in cybercrime cases remains a major concern. NCRB-linked analyses and state-level data show that cybercrime prosecution continues to suffer from delays in digital evidence collection, technical investigation gaps and pendency in courts.
In Karnataka, only 178 convictions were recorded in cybercrime cases over five years, with the conviction rate reported at just 0.2 per cent. In Andhra Pradesh, the cybercrime conviction rate stood at only 1.5 per cent in 2023 despite active police investigations.
Nationally, according to NCRB data, more than 92 per cent of cybercrime cases remain pending in courts.
“While India has strengthened cyber policing infrastructure through I4C, enforcement still struggles to keep pace with the speed, anonymity and scale of digital abuse,” said advocate Mohan Shyam.
Women’s rights activist Raja said stronger platform accountability, faster takedown systems and time-bound investigations are essential to protect women leaders and ordinary users from escalating online harassment.
No Standalone Law For Online Crimes Against Women
Although India does not have a single standalone law exclusively for “online crimes against women,” several provisions under the Information Technology Act 2000 and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, provide punishment for cyberstalking, online harassment, obscene content, defamation, deepfakes and sexual abuse targeting women.
Under stalking-related provisions of the BNS, repeated online monitoring, messaging, intimidation or harassment of a woman can attract imprisonment up to three years for first offence, up to five years for repeat offences, along with fines.
Under Sections 67 and 67A of the IT Act, publishing or transmitting obscene material online, the culprit may face up to three-year jail and Rs 5-lakh fine for first conviction.
Also Read:
- Cybercrimes Against Women, Kids On Rise; MHA Launches Multi-Phase Training For Agencies
- Rukmini Vasanth Slams Morphed AI Photos, Warns Of Legal Action Over ‘Serious Privacy Violation’
- Telangana Saw Highest Crime Rate Against Women And Children In 2024: NCRB
