Iqra Farrukh, TwoCircles.net
Bhopal: In a chilling revelation from Madhya Pradesh, technology has been weaponised for deceit and cruelty. Approximately 80 kilometers from Sidhi district headquarters, impoverished tribal girls were tricked with promises of government scholarships and subjected to horrific sexual assaults.
The perpetrators employed advanced technology — using artificial intelligence and a magic voice app to mimic a woman’s voice and lure the girls into their trap. This sinister use of technology has left law enforcement and cyber experts deeply alarmed.
One 21-year-old tribal girl was assaulted after being deceived into believing she had won a scholarship. Desperate for educational opportunities, she fell victim to the fraud. “I am a poor tribal girl. This scholarship was essential for our education. When we received a call from ‘Archana Madam’ about the scholarship, we did not think twice and went,” she recounted.
The main accused, Brijesh Prajapati, used the app to impersonate a woman and lure economically disadvantaged girls into a fake scholarship scheme. He committed the assaults between early April and May 13, targeting five tribal girls. The latest survivor, assaulted on the night of May 13-14, filed the first FIR (first information report) on May 16, which exposed the full extent of the abuse.
She said had she not reported the crime, more victims might have suffered. She revealed, “I suspected from his behavior that he had done this to many girls before. If I had not spoken up, he would have continued. I mustered the courage to tell my uncle, a police officer. I did not want other poor girls to fall into his trap.”
The accused exploited the ‘Gaon Ki Beti Yojana’, a legitimate government scheme offering Rs 5,000 to economically disadvantaged students, as bait. However, he falsely claimed the scholarship provided Rs 20,000 annually for three years. “Since I needed the money, I believed him,” the survivor explained.
Hailing from a remote area 80 kilometers from Sidhi, the survivor is the first Gond tribal girl from her family to pursue higher education in Sidhi. Her family’s meager income from farming and factory work made this opportunity crucial for her future.
Her parents sustain their livelihood through farming, and her brothers work in private factories in other cities with very low incomes. They barely manage to cover their household expenses. She had come to the district of Cuttack to pursue her undergraduate studies at her uncle’s home. She hoped to secure a job after her studies to help alleviate her family’s poverty. On the day of the incident, she went to the location where the accused had summoned her from her uncle’s house.
The accused was well aware that these girls were in a very poor financial situation. Girls living in remote areas are either not very aware of government schemes or do not receive information about these schemes from responsible officials. Consequently, they can easily fall prey to temptations of money, which the accused exploited to his advantage.
He exploited the girls’ economic vulnerabilities and limited awareness about government schemes, showcasing a disturbing abuse of technology. This deliberate manipulation underscores the sinister potential of tech-driven deceit.
The Deceptive Scheme
Around 4 pm that evening, the tribal girl received a call on her phone from a woman.
The woman identified herself as ‘Archana Madam’ from her college and said, “Come to Tikiri right away. Your scholarship money is pending. Sign the documents, and the money will be credited to your account.”
The girl said she replied, “Ma’am, it’s getting late; I won’t be able to come today.” Archana Madam insisted, “Today is the last date. If you don’t sign today, you won’t receive the ‘Village Daughter Scheme’ scholarship.”
“Enticed by the scholarship offer, the girl travelled about 35 kilometers from Cuttack to Tikiri by bus around 5-6 pm on May 13, 2024. When she reached Tikiri, she called the same number again. ‘Archana Madam’, making excuses, said, ‘I am caught up with something. I am sending my son to meet you. Go with him, get your signature done, and then you can leave,” she recounted the horror.
She said a young man arrived at the Tikiri intersection on a motorcycle, wearing a yellow t-shirt and black gloves. He introduced himself as ‘Archana Madam’s’ son. Once the girl got on his motorcycle, he headed towards the forest. When she asked where they were going, he said he was taking her to his mother’s place. As it began to get dark, he took her to a remote area surrounded by forest, where a makeshift mud hut was located. When the girl asked where ‘Archana Madam’ was, he told her not to ask too many questions or he would kill her.
The girl said, “I was very scared. He smelled strongly of alcohol. He said that if I made any noise, he would stuff a cloth in my mouth. Out of fear, I did not say anything. He assaulted me for several hours.”
The main accused in this case, 30-year-old Brijesh Prajapati, used a voice-changing app to alter his voice to sound like a woman’s. He would lure girls to this dilapidated hut, pretending to be ‘Archana Madam’. There, he would get drunk and sexually assault the girls for a long time, and then abandon them in the forest at midnight or throw them out of the room.
Between 11 pm and midnight, the accused left the survivor 10-12 kilometers away from the crime scene.
The survivor said, “The area was surrounded by forest. I was scared and did not know where to go at such a late hour. He had already taken my phone and turned it off.”
The survivor then began wandering in the forest seeking help. She called for help at several houses scattered in the forest, but no one came out. She did not lose hope and kept walking.
Eventually, a 65-year-old elderly woman from a house helped her. “I reached the elderly woman’s house after crossing a river and navigating about two kilometers of rough terrain. It was raining heavily on the day I visited her.”
Seeing the girl’s condition at night, the woman could not stay calm. She was afraid that if she kept her, someone might come and attack her from behind. But she felt she needed help urgently. The victim asked for water and told her the whole incident. She was in a lot of pain.
The woman who provided shelter to the survivor lived in the midst of the forest. The girl could not sleep due to the pain. She was crying. The elderly woman managed to find some medicine for her. After a while, the victim felt better and then fell asleep. As soon as morning came, she asked for a phone to call her uncle, who was in the police.
After informing her uncle of the entire situation, the first FIR was registered on May 16. Subsequently, the police quickly arrested the main accused. Due to the police’s swift action, four more cases related to this incident also came to notice.
Another victim from the Baiga community, living about 40 kilometers from Sidhi, described a similar ordeal. After receiving a deceptive call, she was taken to the same desolate hut, sexually abused and left to wander in the forest with her sister before finding help.
Survivors’ Struggle
Following the assault, the survivor faced immense distress, fearing that the stigma might jeopardize her education. Even months later, she remains terrified, saying, “I am afraid to go anywhere. The memory of that day haunts me, and I cry. It is already very difficult for tribal girls to pursue education, and this incident has made it even harder.”
Community and Law Enforcement Response
The local community, especially the girls, now lives in fear of further educational restrictions. Families are becoming increasingly cautious about sending daughters to school, reflecting the broader impact of such traumatic events.
Government officials and local leaders have expressed concern, calling for better awareness and preventive measures. The police and cyber experts are working to address the misuse of technology and improve safety protocols.
Sidhi Superintendent of Police Dr Ravindra Verma emphasised the criminal history of the accused and assured that the case would be prosecuted rigorously. Efforts are also underway to remove the offending app from digital platforms, he claimed.
“The main accused has a criminal record. We have seized 18 mobile phones from the accused, including five that belong to the victims. The rest are stolen. At the factory where he worked in Surat, he used to steal employees’ phones during the night shift. There is also an FIR registered against him for theft.”
Verma also mentioned, “We have sent a letter to the state cyber cell, requesting the closure of this app. The state government has also sent a letter to the central government, requesting the removal of this app from the Play Store. A meeting is being organised to discuss the removal of the app from the Play Store. The accused used the same application with all five victims.”
“According to the call details from the phones found with the accused, he began committing these crimes from April. The mobile history and call details of the accused reveal a pattern where he made calls to many unknown numbers in a single day. However, only five students fell into his trap. If more students come forward, we will definitely take action,” he said.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been formed. The investigators said a chargesheet will be filed soon. The charges against the accused carry a penalty of life imprisonment.
The police claimed they have been raising awareness about cybercrime and continue to do so. Technology is continuously advancing, and with its increased use, its negative impacts are also becoming apparent. People need to be aware, they said.
As per the investigation so far, the accused did not call any girl for more than two days. At least 10 to 15 girls received calls but did not entertain them. The accused would extract numbers from the phones of the girls he targeted and call other girls. There was no fixed pattern — sometimes he used a mobile phone and sometimes just a number. The accused often called in the evening to avoid being noticed while taking the girls to the crime scene in the dark.
Cyber security experts stress the need for vigilance and verifying sources to prevent such incidents in the future.