Photo : Collected

DHAKA, May 23, 2025 (BSS) - Twenty-three-year-old Reema Jadab (not real name) was a student of BBA in a private university of the city. She used to live with her parents in Kafrul area.  
 
In a morning, she got a phone call from her class friend who asked Reema whether she had posted any vulgar photos on her facebook’s timeline. Reema was shocked. The friend also informed her (Reema) that a facebook account was being run by someone with full address of Reema. 
 
It's the story of a private varsity girl who had to go through unbelievable sufferings when unidentified hackers opened a fake facebook ID using her name, address and photoshopped pictures to spread vulgar contents.  
 
Arpita Dey (not real name), 23, student of BBA third year in a private university, whose facebook friends are over 1,100 and number of followers is around 2500. One day, she woke up getting a call from her close friend. 
 
Being terrifyingly excited the friend asked whether Arpita had posted any nude photos on her timeline! A cell phone number was given for personal contact but it was not Purnima's number.  
 
Arpita instantly tried to deactivate the facebook ID. But the vulgar contents already went viral in different filthy facebook groups and foul pages. Being frightened, she switched off her cell phone and stopped going to varsity. The girl became mentally sick. 
 
It's not a single story! There are several incidents like Reema and Arpita. In fact, the number of sufferers is huge, but most of the incidents are suppressed by the victims' families fearing further social harassment.  
 
Official sources said around twenty thousand complaints have been lodged by the sufferers with Cyber Help Desk under ICT Division in the recent months.
Of the total complaints, about 75 percent were women harassment creating fake facebook IDs. 
 
Presently, the facebook has been widely used for committing sexual abuse against women, particularly adolescent girls. Generally, in the case of broken relation, the men start blackmailing by sharing intimate photos and videos on the facebook, they said. 
 
Former secretary of BTRC (Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission) Sarwar Alam recently said: "If the allegation come through the law enforcement agencies it becomes easy for us to deal with the crimes. In this situation, we can take steps as per desire of the concerned agencies... However, if anyone personally files complaint, the Commission also can show him or her a way out."