By Nishtha Relan:
There are such interesting and intriguing incidents that go on in our country, that one could keep listening and thinking about them, and would never get bored. Barely a few days ago, a (alleged) CCTV camera clip of a couple getting intimate in one of the empty compartments in a Delhi Metro train somehow got leaked and reached an international porn site. As TOI further enlightened us, there have been around 250 such cases to have reached various porn sites. The mere knowledge of association with the accident must give many a sleepless nights to these victims (?) of easy technology.
Regarding the latest case, which happened to get noticed and talked about widely, the video clip belongs to DMRC, which has issued orders for an internal enquiry and placed a complaint with the Cyber Cell of Delhi Police. Though CISF (Central Industrial Security Force) looks over the security of the commuters in the metro trains, they deny having any access to the recorded tapes, as they do not work from the control rooms. Which strengthens the possibility of a DMRC official having leaked the video out. DMRC spokesperson Anuj Dayal has promised strict action against any official found guilty, but he has also suggested that the video might just not be CCTV camera footage, but a clip recorded through a mobile phone. He points out that the metro announcements could be heard in the video, and the CCTV doesn’t have audio recording. Also, the camera seems to be fixed on the couple, whereas the official metro cameras keep revolving to record various angles. Whatever be the case, the video has been uploaded online in clips of 2 to 8 minutes, and the validity to assume privacy in a public place has been questioned.
So we can blame the DMRC officials for its lack of control and security of the video clips, and misuse of the clip by one of its officials. The question of security and misuse of the official DMRC property is worrisome. To think that any random official could have gone and leaked out a tape could be a crucial issue for national security. Or we may blame the sick mentality of the commuters to feed their hunger for mischief by recording such videos and uploading them on porn sites which cater to soft-core porn as well. Then again, where was the security force that was supposed to look out for such insolent acts? Or we could try to look deeper and realise that the youngsters or even the couples of other age groups do not have a space personal enough to indulge in sexual activities. Why would they risk it and lose control in such an outright public place, even if the coach was empty? Surely they knew about the surveillance CCTV cameras installed in the metro. Also, the fact that this makes for a possible topic for an article, and a point to be debated, points out towards the excitability of anything remotely sexual for us, the people. Sex sells, sex attracts, and causes people to infringe upon others’ privacy, with this particular kind of voyeurism being dangerous to the others. The sensation generated by this piece of news is a ground for much of moral policing, a lot of them being the typical moral degradation of ‘this new generation’.
No wonder, the possibilities range from very dangerous to plain gossip. However the question of privacy is still very irksome in a case which lays bare how much of our actions are kept to ourselves. Being a regular Delhi Metro commuter, I wonder what will catch my eye the next time I travel by it. Or what my eyes look for, and find, eventually.