In 2015, Misbah Quadri, then 25, moved into a rented flat in Wadala after landing a new job. But peace was fleeting. In a housing issue, she gave an interview to the media which ended up becoming a national issue. Fake Facebook profiles using her name and photos began surfacing, posting inflammatory communal content and doctored images. Soon, people she didn’t know were threatening her. “They started saying I was in the flesh trade, that I was a struggling actress. My pictures from parties, picked up from my social media, were weaponised. I felt hunted,” she says. The hate, misrepresentation, and doxxing with her personal details posted publicly pushed her to leave the city for some years.

Her experience, though a decade old, mirrors what many women in Maharashtra still face. On July 7, mid-day reported on how cybercrime cases in the state have surged from 418 in 2015 to a staggering 1845 in 2024. However, while reports increase, justice plummets as witnessed by the fact that charge-sheet filings dropped from 57 per cent in 2015 to a remarkable zero in 2023 and 2024. As a result, convictions are rare to find. 

Misbah Qadri says the online targeting made her feel hunted