Dola Akther, reportedly detained by detectives, is the talk of the town since her arrest. Several people have come forward to identify her as a “love fraud” – a person who had used a veil of innocence to entrap and swindle.
Dola has confessed to being part of an organised group whose main target was to lure in men looking for romantic liaisons to an apparently empty apartment. Secret cameras recorded intimate moments in the flat, which were later used for extortion. In cases of unmarried men, money was demanded to secure release.
Not trying to demonise women alone, we turn our attention to one Sharifur Rahman Sharif, a bespectacled young man with innocence written all over his face. Sharif developed a relationship with a university-going girl, married her with promises of a future together, and at one point, demanded Tk10 lakh from his wife with the threat that if she failed to bring the money he would release videos of intimate moments between them.
The girl failed to provide the cash, and realising the true nature of Sharif (ironically, meaning decent), filed for divorce. In retaliation, the video was made public, much to the torment of the girl and her family.
So, instead of pointing fingers at either males or females, we see that when it comes to fraud, members of both the genders wilfully take up such unlawful acts.
These two incidents only add to a series of scams that have been unearthed in the recent past. A few years ago, several out of work film actresses were found to be engaged in elaborate sex-selling businesses, where, discreet services were not the main motive.
In the name of providing physical pleasure, the objective was to record clients with hidden cameras for securing long-term financial bondage.
But the recent discovery of Dola, a seemingly pleasant girl from a middle class background, only exposes a murky mercenary philosophy overtaking all notions of ethical livelihood.
For Dola, the job was to talk to men on the phone, create a situation where they would fall for her, and, in the name of a romantic date, bring them to the specified apartment. The rest of the work was done by others.
Coming back to Sharif, his work pattern was almost similar – using his charm to create trust. Once someone’s confidence was ensured, technology was used to keep records of private moments.
The problem is, we only know of such fraudsters after they are caught. What eventually happens to them is vague. Do they serve a term, or do they wriggle out of punishment by using loopholes of the law? We also need to ask if men who release secretly recorded videos of women are ever caught. People like Dola and Sharif form a new layer of the sketchy social underbelly of a reckless consumerist culture.
Here, in this domain, the line between lies and truth are constantly being realigned. All moral principles are overshadowed by a single-minded determination to make money.
I once had the chance interact with the moll of a top political goon in the city. With an SSC degree as her highest academic achievement, the girl, in her early twenties, had a clinically clear vision of what she wanted in life – power, wealth, and the ability to buy whatever she wanted.
While the money coming to her via her mobster boyfriend was mainly from extortion, she never felt a pang of guilt. “What matters is money; how one gets it is hardly significant,” was her unabashed observation. “Look at politicians who have made millions misusing their positions, and are still respectable people with sporadic complaints against them hardly denting their social status,” the girl said.
Despite rapacity dominating almost her entire existence, the truth in that line can hardly be ignored.
The girl is also a die hard disciple of a well-known holy man, paying monthly visits, carrying expensive gifts. Naturally, the “pir” will secure peace for her here and in the life after.
There was a time when youth idealism was dominated by desires to reform society for the better, whereas now, by their mid-twenties, a large number of young men and women show a tendency to dump morality for a quick buck.
Viciously, a ruthless profit-driven philosophy has entered our lives, where Dola and Sharif are simply following an overpowering belief.
Add the killer drug Yaba to this vulture ideology and we have a deadly mixture. Today, many Yaba peddlers are young women involved in an assortment of dodgy trades. A penetrating social probe will possibly reveal that at the heart is the relentless desire to get rich quick.
From a philosophical angle, we possibly can’t blame the young, because growing up in a tainted society, they understand pretty fast that money, irrespective of its genesis, has its own unassailable force.
Let’s be blunt here: Dola or Sharif’s arrest won’t work as a deterrent; it will not jolt con artists, instead of reforming they will simply alter their tactics.
More ingenious ways of tricking people will emerge, new men and women will realise that ethics are never as flashy as a car, and not remotely effective in sending the message of “success.”
Of all the ways to make money, aiming to exploit human emotions possibly has the highest success rates; so blend con with Cupid and let the arrows be doused in avarice and evil.
