The word “Grooming Gangs” came into prominence in 2011 by a report published by Times, London after a series of investigations and articles on sexual exploitation by Islamic gangs from some Muslim countries. The issue of Grooming Gangs, though often underreported, has been of a growing concern in India. The incidents of “Love-Jihad” in India are also considered the result of such grooming gangs.
What this session covered
This session, the second in the institute's podcast series on grooming gangs, took the form of a host interviewing a single guest, a retired senior officer of the Indian Police Service, on child sexual exploitation and grooming in the Indian context. The speaker opened with the background in the United Kingdom, where press reporting following a series of investigations brought the term to prominence. He recounted that the gangs were initially described as being of Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Afghan origin, that objections were raised to this characterisation as Islamophobic, and that British usage subsequently shifted to describing them as gangs of Asian origin.
Turning to India, the speaker argued that the same pattern operates here: predators gradually win a minor's trust, form an emotional bond, and then move to coercion and sexual exploitation, frequently targeting children from underprivileged backgrounds who lack family support, with cases under-reported because of stigma. He drew a parallel between this grooming process and the phenomenon that has been labelled in India as love jihad, while stating that he attached no ethnic or religious label to grooming gangs and that such operations are not confined to any one community. He cited the internet as a significant enabler, pointing to the anonymity it affords, the ease with which children befriend strangers on social media, and the difficulty parents face in monitoring online activity, and noted that the minimum age of 13 for creating social-media accounts is routinely evaded.
On the legal framework, the speaker surveyed provisions of the Indian Penal Code and its successor code, the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act and the Information Technology Act, describing the framework as stringent on paper while observing that offences against children have nonetheless continued to rise. His central recommendation was that grooming itself should be explicitly defined and recognised as an offence in Indian law to remove ambiguity in prosecutions. He further suggested public awareness campaigns, digital awareness for senior citizens, independent judicial oversight of fast-track courts, round-the-clock toll-free child helplines, long-term psychological rehabilitation for victims, community policing to encourage reporting of suspicious activity, and international terminology guidelines on child sexual exploitation. The host closed by urging schools to teach children how to respond if approached by groomers.
Key points raised
- The session was a host–guest interview in which a retired senior police officer examined whether the grooming-gang phenomenon reported in the United Kingdom has an Indian counterpart.
- The speaker argued that the pattern labelled love jihad in India is essentially a grooming process, while repeatedly stating that grooming operations are not confined to any single ethnic or religious group.
- The speaker held that India's legal framework — the penal code, the child sexual offences legislation and the Information Technology Act — is stringent on paper, but that grooming itself is not explicitly defined as an offence and should be.
- The speaker cited internet anonymity, children's ease of forming online contacts, and weak parental monitoring as reasons the problem has grown, noting the minimum age of 13 for social-media accounts is routinely evaded.
- Proposed remedies included awareness campaigns, independent oversight of fast-track courts, toll-free child helplines, long-term victim rehabilitation, community policing, and international terminology guidelines on child sexual exploitation.
