Even mothers and sisters not spared; Morphing crimes rampant in Kerala

KOCHI: Are our mothers and sisters even safe at home? Current events have brought to light the egregious state of mental perversion that has taken over a faction of youngsters in the state. Criminals engaged in morphing are rampant, and they care nothing, even if the victim is their spouse, teachers or sisters. The arrest of S Srihari, a student leader of Thrikkakara Bharat Mata College and a native of Thiruvananthapuram, Kilimanoor, has shaken the conscience of society.

Morphed photos, including those of teachers and classmates, were found on Srihari’s phone. These pictures were also circulated in many groups. Before the shock wore off, similar cases were registered in Ettumanoor Engineering College and Malappuram. In Kollam, a husband himself sold his wife's pornographic images to websites for money.

According to a report by PI Labs, an independent agency that investigates such issues, 93 per cent of the fake images target women. There has been a nine-fold increase in this in recent times.

Five years and counting

Distributing obscene images is punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of up to Rs 10 lakh under Section 67A and 67 of the IT Act. Repeat offenders will face seven years in prison. Violation of privacy will attract up to 3 years in prison, and crimes against children will attract rigorous imprisonment under the POCSO Act.

The central law requires that morphed images be removed from social media within two hours of receiving a complaint. Platforms that fail to comply will face huge fines and direct criminal action, with legal protection.

Morphing is the process of cropping faces using traditional editing software like Photoshop. Deepfake is a sophisticated method that uses AI tools to analyse a person's facial movements, voice, and appearance to create fake videos that are difficult to distinguish from real ones.