Lucknow: In a grey market of Lucknow, videos of rape are sold anywhere between Rs 300- Rs 500 and termed as ‘local films.
The Naka Hindola market serves as the focal point for this thriving business and buyers come from adjoining states of Madhya Pradesh and Bihar with bulk orders, reports Deccan Chronicle.
These rape videos come with a blank cover and many of them are filmed in an unprofessional way. Also, they are sold to only to known customers with most of them taken in pen drives as a caution.
The business is flourishing at a mere distance of 500 metres from Naka Hindola police station. Cops also reportedly receive a sturdy amount for letting run the business.
Rakesh (name changed) who runs this sordid business says: “The days of pirated films are over. Nowadays rape videos are in demand. Filming a rape has become popular. The duration is anything between 10 minutes and 30 minutes and the video is sold for anywhere between Rs 300 and Rs 500, depending on how explicit it is.”
He further explains how the videos are cleaned up before rolling them into the market. Here ‘clean up’ refers to the blurring of rapist’s face but not of the victim. Sellers claim to sell 100 to 200 such films daily.
Those who run this business say that their customers are mostly boys and students and those with political links.
One senior police official said, “In more than 50 percent of cases, the victims complain that the act was filmed by the accused but the police never register the case under IT Act.”