Gang Who Lured and Robbed Men on Grindr Arrested in India
Reuters reports. In some instances, the attackers forced their victims to send bank transfers.“Those arrested have confessed to having robbed at least 15 or 20 people using the same method in the last four months,” J.P.
Jadeja, a police officer in Ahmedabad, told the news agency.While gay sex has been decriminalized in the country since 2018, ongoing stigma, particularly in the rural communities where religious and conservative groups remain in power, means many queer Indians feel compelled to remain in the closet.
However, keeping their sexuality hidden has the added effect of making them vulnerable targets for those who, like the accused, seek to exploit their secrets.The gang members reportedly believed that this was the case: that victims would remain quiet out of fear of being outed.
However, that assumption proved incorrect, as one victim went to the police to report the crime.Despite Grindr’s pledge of a “zero-tolerance policy” toward discrimination and attempts to crack down on abusive behavior on its platform, this string of robberies is not an isolated incident.
