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MUMBAI: Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar recounted on Friday how his 13-year-old daughter, Nitara, dealt with sexual harassment while gaming online.A few months ago, while playing an online game that allowed strangers to interact, she was befriended by someone who initially engaged her with friendly messages.“The person started with polite messages like ‘thank you’, ‘well played’, and ‘fantastic’. He seemed like a nice person. After some time, he asked if she was male or female, and when she replied ‘female’, the tone of the conversation changed,” Kumar said. The stranger asked his daughter to send him nude pictures of herself.“My daughter immediately shut down the game and informed my wife. Thankfully, she didn’t hesitate to share what happened,” the actor said, speaking at the inauguration of Cybersecurity Awareness Month at the Maharashtra Police headquarters.The actor said the incident reflects a cybercrime pattern where predators first build trust and then attempt to exploit minors — a modus operandi that often ends in extortion and in tragic cases, suicide.CM Devendra Fadnavis emphasised the importance of reporting cybercrime on helplines 1930 and 1945 within the Golden Hour — which is the hour immediately after the crime has occurred. This, he said, is crucial in cases of cyber fraud, as it improved the odds of recovering stolen money. He said the state plans to raise awareness among school and college students on cybercrime. Fadnavis launched two resources that will be used in this awareness campaign — a documentary on cyber security and a comic book for children called ‘Cyber Warrior’.Fadnavis said the state needed to enhance capabilities to counter deepfakes. He said fraudsters use AI to trick people through phishing, OTP scams, deepfakes, voice and face cloning. “We share personal information on social media and through online transactions and payment platforms. Once cookies are accepted, personal data can be misused, leading to fraud, extortion and cyberbullying,” he said.Also present at the ceremony were actor Rani Mukerji, VJTI dean of R&D and consultancy Dr Farooq Kazi, associate professor at IIT Bombay Manjesh Hanawal, and IAS and IPS officers. Activists working to raise awareness on cybercrime were felicitated.
