Moot Proposition

Ananya, a seventeen and a half Years Student of NIFT, Bhopal clicked through her profile page.
She stared hard at the screen, deep in thought, pressed the palms of her hands to her tired eyes
and sighed. She clicked Edit personal info and when the dropdown appeared under
Relationship status, she paused and took a deep breath, she couldnt believe after all these
months that she was actually going to do this. She selected Single and clicked Save.

She and Sumant had been together for nearly two years, but eventually his possessive nature and
constant harassing had worn her down to the point where her friends hardly recognised the pale
and sunken-eyed girl who had once been the life and soul of the party. She had hardly seen most
of her friends for the last year, as Sumant had insisted on reading all her smss and emails and
had complained every time she went out with them, telling her she had to choose: him or them. It
was only with the help of Nilanjana, her best friend and the one who never gave up on her, that
she had had the courage to move out of the flat she shared with Sumant and onto Tinas flat.
After nearly a week of just sleeping and watching TV, she felt the life returning to her and she
finally felt up to going back online and going back to classes. When she logged onto her
Facebook account, the first thing she saw was the 56 messages, all from Sumant some were
pleading, others threatening. Her email account was similar 3 or 4 messages a day, some pages
and pages long, begging, pleading, cajoling and aggressive in turn. Then the phone calls started.
At first they came once or twice a day, and then 5 or 10 times, sometimes at 2 in the morning.
Eventually in desperation she changed her SIM and got a new number. What a drag. She also
removed him as a friend from all her social media accounts for good measure, and blocked his
emails. Thank goodness he didnt know where she was staying, she thought. A few weeks later,
she felt more confidentshe was making friends online and offline and she actually felt like
going out. She had met a couple of new guys online, two of whom had told her they always went
to Blue Ice on Fridays. So after a chat with the girls, who firmly agreed it was time for her to
move on, they all headed out to Blue Ice for drinks. Wait guys, she said smiling as they pushed
her toward the bar, I have to celebrate this! Its a historic moment: Im single and free They
waited while she checked in and then it was margaritas all round.
After an hour or so of chatting and laughing, she was feeling really relaxed and happy. Her eyes
scanned the room, and all of a sudden, she froze. Sumant had just walked into the bar.
Whats wrong Ana? asked Lisa, seeing the expression on her face.
Its Sumant, she replied, but he never comes here!
Here, swap seats with me, said Tanya, he wont see you if your back is to him.
She did, but she knew it would make no difference. Sumant had spotted her.
She got up to go to the bathroom and as she was washing her hands, she felt an arm around her
neck. She was dragged across the floor, spun around and pinned to the wall by her throat.
Youre MINE, said Sumant, dont forget that. You will always be mine. I will always
know where you are and youll never get rid of me.
She struggled free, ran out of the bathroom and past her friends, with tears streaming down her
face
Im out of here guys, she shouted. Tina rushed after her, caught up with her in the parking lot.
Here, sweetie, let me drive you home she said.
On the way back, as she calmed down, she started wondering how Sumant had found her. It
couldnt be Facebook because she had removed him, so what then? Maybe he had spotted her by
chance and followed her. That must be it.
Over the next week, still jumpy, she began looking over her shoulder wherever she went. Not
feeling like another encounter with Sumant, she stayed home and found companionship
socializing online, talking with her friends and telling people about her day, her life and her
thoughts. Once or twice, she thought she heard strange noises in the garden, but she put it down
to her fragile state of mind. No WAY could Sumant find her here he had no idea where Tammy
lived.
Still, her state of mind didnt improve. She kept thinking she saw glimpses of Sumant wherever
she went, but she knew her mind was playing tricks on her. She began jumping at shadows again,
losing weight, and soon she was looking as pale and frightened as ever.
The final blow came on a Monday morning. She walked into class yawning after yet another
night of disturbed sleep, to find Tina and all her other friends glaring at her in shock and
disbelief.
What is it, guys? she asked. Why are you looking at me like that?
Um... said Tina, I guess we didnt know you quite as well as we thought we did?
What do you mean? she answered, looking horrified.
This! said Krevan, the class clown, turning his laptop screen to the whole class. She gasped.
On the screen was a nude picture of her! But it wasnt her. It was her head alright, but definitely
not her body. She would never let anyone take a picture like that! Scrawled across the bottom of
the picture were the words
"CALL FOR A GOOD TIME, ANANYA AT 0721234567 OR COME OVER TO 9 GROVER
ROAD, BHOPAL."

Her eyes filled with tears as she wailed, Its not me! I promise guys, please! She ran out
crying, flew across campus and curled up in a corner at the bottom of Jammie steps, weeping.
After half a minute, Tina and the other girls caught up with her. Tina put her arm around
Ananyas shoulder and shushed her.
Dont worry, sweetie, we didnt think it was you, this has to be Sumants doing.
I know, sobbed Ananya, but what can I do?
He must have Photoshopped that picture and put it up using a fake Facebook profile, said Jaya,
who was studying computer science, Ive heard of this happening before have you made a lot
of new online friends recently?
Yes, she said, Loads! But how could I possibly know who on Facebook is a fake, I have 500
friends? And how did he find out Tinas address and my phone number? she cried.
Well, said Jaya, If he did friend you on social media, he did it using a fake persona that would
appeal to youmet any hot new guys lately? Once you accepted the friend request, he would
simply pull all your information off your profiles.
This is just hopeless, Ananya said.
Nothing is hopeless, my sister said Tina, the first thing we do is go to the Cyber Cell.
In the meanwhile, Tina had called the Police Station, explained what had happened and asked
them to patrol the street 24/7 they said there had been some strange vehicles parked in the road
and had gladly agreed.
The Cyber Cell incharge at the police station explained to her that what had most likely
happened was that she was the victim of what the police called cyber-stalking and that she
needed to learn how to secure her online presence and be very careful who she befriended. He
also assured her that the Cyber Crime Unit could forensically trace the malicious poster and
prosecute him for wrongdoing.
Ananya went in to severe depression and had to be hospitalized for atleast fifteen days and had to
spend Rs. 1lakh on medicines and hospital charges.

Within a month, with the help of her friends and counsellors, she was learning to deal with the
trauma and get on with her life, while Sumant was caught by the Police. Within a month, Ananya
had secured every account she had online, changed her number and moved into a flat of her own.
Argue for and against Sumant.