Sex sells like pancakes in this underground market

It has made its bones in the business as the one-stop destination for porn, sleaze and piracy.

Sex sells like pancakes in this underground market

It has made its bones in the business as the one-stop destination for porn, sleaze and piracy.

Quite a dubious distinction to earn, but Delhi's first underground market Palika Bazar has learned to live with it.
No amount of pressure by the police has discouraged the traders from selling porn CDs, DVDs, sex toys and the goods.

From desi porn, soft porn, hardcore porn, animated porn to sleazy videos of Paris Hilton, other Hollywood and Bollywood celebrities, you name it and it will be provided to you at the market situated in the heart of Connaught Place.

On Thursday MiD DAY followed the trail of sex in the city through the underground market, famous for its cheap goods. When asked about the recent Noida MMS clip, a shopkeeper gleefully informed us that it was the latest one to have hit the market.

"Apart from that we have sex clips of Bombay school children and many others. You can have it in a pen drive or a memory card. It will cost you between Rs 700-Rs 800," the shopkeeper said.

Despite Delhi police cracking down on traders selling porn videos and MMS sex clips every now and then, the illegal market of such goods is thriving.

Amendments to the IT Act 2000, passed by the Lok Sabha in the last week of December 2008, have identified such acts as crimes and provided for strict punishments.

For instance, publishing (creating) and transmitting obscene material and any sexually explicit act is a cognizable offence and can invite a jail term of up to five years and a fine of Rs 10 lakh.

Sending offensive, intimidating and hate messages using your computer, cell phone, PDA, etc also calls for the same punishment. Likewise, using an electronic medium to forward voyeuristic MMSes of film personalities, etc captured using hidden cameras could also lead to imprisonment.

Vivek Gogia, Additional Commissioner of Police, Economic Offences Wing (EOC) of Delhi Police, refused to comment over the issue. However, another senior official from the same wing said, "The amendments has for the first time dealt with issues like identity theft and privacy. Earlier, we used to find it difficult to prosecute such cases as there were no provisions to handle such issues like phishing or selling pornographic clips of individuals."