Sri Lanka
USA
Canada
India
UK
UAE
Police have raised concerns over a growing number of extortion cases involving secretly recorded intimate videos, particularly targeting married women, young couples and individuals involved in clandestine relationships.
Officer-in-Charge of the Information Technology and Computer Crime Investigation Unit in Galle, K.K.R. Alwis, said complaints related to such incidents have increased significantly in recent months. According to him, perpetrators use advanced miniature cameras to secretly record sexual encounters and later threaten victims with public exposure on websites unless money is paid.
“These hidden cameras are often concealed in shirt collars, disguised as pens in pockets, or placed inside beds at lodges,” Alwis said. “Intimate moments involving married women and their paramours, as well as young couples, are secretly recorded and later used for blackmail.”
He noted that in many cases, young men take women they are romantically involved with to lodges, secretly record nude scenes, and later use the footage to extort money.
Alwis cited a recent incident involving a 45-year-old woman whose husband is employed overseas. She had developed a relationship with a bakery employee, who secretly recorded their sexual encounters and is now extorting her by threatening to release the footage online.
In another case, an exorcist who claimed he could cure a sick child through rituals allegedly stayed at a woman’s home and convinced her that she was under harmful planetary influence. Under the pretext of performing rituals to remove it, he coerced her into sexual relations, secretly recorded the acts, and later used the footage to extort money. The woman’s husband is also employed abroad.
Alwis urged young women to exercise caution when keeping company with their partners and warned married women about the serious risks associated with secret relationships. He stressed the importance of vigilance and early reporting to prevent further victimisation.
