A first-year BBM student from Puttur, near Mangalore, has been ostracised after a sex tape featuring a girl resembling her was edited, named after her and released as an MMS
Life has become hell for BBM student Shruti ever since the word spread in her town Puttur, about 60 kilometres from Mangalore, that she had featured in a sex video.
Nobody wants to be associated with this first-year BBM student from St Philomena College ever since a 3 minutes 30 seconds sex MMS in her name “Shruthi Puttur Sye (ready) to dance, do anything” was released in November. Shruti got to know about the CD on Nov 14 when her relatives came home and informed her family. Her friends and classmates came to know of it on November 9.
She said, “Everybody thought I was in the sex clip. It was only my mother who first said I wouldn’t do such a thing. Later, the rest of my family also believed that I wouldn’t do something like that.”
However, her dad was not informed right away as he suffers from blood pressure. After three days, he and Shruti’s brother were informed. As this incident happened around exam time, she could not do well in her exams.
Next followed social ostracism. Relatives did not want to talk to her or her family. Shurti and her family became the butt of jokes. She recalled, “My dad, a mechanic in KSRTC, found it hard to go around in the town. In class, girls did not want to even sit next to me. Nine members who used to perform with me in my dance troupe, quit the group.”
Amid all this, her dance teacher Ilyas Pinto and his wife supported her. “As soon as he got to know about it, he informed the police. But the inspector suggested that filing a complaint would mean inviting more publicity.” A local leader also stood by her in her fight for justice.
Things went from bad to worse for this bundle of talent after a local newspaper carried the CD clip and claimed that she was in it.
Shruti explained, “We started looking for the original CD and found it available on the internet. This tape features a Punjabi girl who resembles me. The original 15-minute clip had been edited to a 3 minutes 30 seconds clip, renamed and circulated widely. The result is that everyone has started calling me “Mallige” (a slang for sex clips originating in the area),” she said.
After the original CD was traced, a case was filed at the Puttur town police station on Nov 30. In her complaint, Shruti mentioned that the girl in the CD was not her and sought an inquiry into it. She named in the complaint the persons whom she suspected to be behind the incident. “It’s close to three months and police have failed to take any action against the culprits,” she said.
Shruti has been a finalist of a reality show that took place in May on a private television channel. She later even participated in dance show on a Telugu channel. She has been a first class student in academics. She takes up classes for kids, choreographs shows and is also into sports.
After the clip surfaced, a few of her relatives suggested that she quit college. However, Shruti has decided to continue studies and fight back. “I want justice at any cost and this should not happen to anyone else,” she said.
What the cops say
Dakshina Kannada Superintendent of Police A S Rao said the person who has circulated the clip has been identified and he will be arrested soon. “Nailing the culprit took some time as the case required dedicated and sustained effort. Lot of networking goes into it. The Puttur town police had written to all mobile service providers. Though the person who circulated the clip has been identified, we are working on tracing the origin of the clip,” he said.
Sources said the person has been identified as a student from the same college.
It’s not a first-of-its-kind incident
The latest incident is not an isolated one. Three years ago, a seven-minute MMS sex clip was converted into a 30-minute CD called ‘Mangalooru Mungaru Male’ and widely circulated.
There have been instances where girls have admitted they have no problem being featured in sex clips. A year ago, an MMS clip at Bajpe in Mangalore of a local leader was in wide circulation. According to sources, after the clip was released the girl admitted she had no problem being involved in the act. She, however, was unaware when the clip was being shot.
In a recent incident, a sex clip involving a girl from a prominent college in Ujire had made news. It was learnt the girl admitted she was the one featured in the sex clip. She was forced to quit her college and leave her home town.
In the rural areas of Sullia and Puttur, such clips are sold for Rs 50 or Rs 100.
In Dakshina Kannada, the hot belt for communal divide, such clips are used by those with a communal agenda, and they mostly target college students.
A local leader from Puttur said, “Youth often resort to such tactics to blackmail girls. Often, it happens that false publicity is created saying a particular girl is in the sex clip. It’s embarrassing for the family and often, the girl is forced to quit studies or even leave home.”
On Shruti’s case, he said, “We are confident the police will nail the guilty at the earliest. Shruthi had the courage to speak out.” Source