picture a sprightly young genz man social butterfly fresh out of college addicted to kpop and full of high jinks and curiosity what could the act of swiping right on someone on a dating app mean for him in modernday india well if you are gay and closeted chances are it could tear you of your innocence well before time along with any nerve you have built to come out and leave you with a lifelong dread of socializingfour years after the supreme court struck down section 377 of the indian penal code decriminalizing consensual sex between samesex adults a gutwrenching increase in cases of sextortion within the lgbtqia community comes as a reminder that the shame and fear of being outed which members have lived with for years is real and enduring it is what scammers are preying on to attack abuse extort and blackmail queer youngsters and at times older gay and bisexual men with wives and childrenpeople who are most vulnerable to blackmail or extortion are usually those who have not come out at work or to their families and friends says l ramakrishnan from the public health ngo saathii the decriminalization of section 377 hasnt necessarily made it easy for gay people to come out and predators use this vulnerability says ramakrishnanperpetrators typically find their victims on lgbtqia dating apps and following weeks or months of conversations revealing minimal personal information activists are now concretely listing these out as red flags to look out for they agree to meet at littleknown locations decided on by themin a majority of cases that have reached the police the scammer rarely works individually but is a member of a larger gang which barges into the scene when the victim is involved in intercourse pushing them into shock they then begin clicking photos and videos of the act assault the victim and blackmail them into surrendering all the money and valuables they havewhile this is the standard mo scammers use to honeytrap gay boys and men attacks may also happen at cruising points and at the perpetrators or victims homefive years ago vishwa a 42yearold bisexual man married with kids from chennai was brutally attacked near the perambur railway station known to be a popular cruising spot he was under30 handsome wellbuilt and civil says vishwa describing his attacker he walked up to me and struck a conversation and then invited me to an isolated place nearby to hookupbut the instant they reached the spot vishwa says he felt a fist smash into his face as the young man pulled the gold chain around his neck and tried to mug him he kept hitting and punching me and when he was done he said he would make me call my gay friends and the women in my house and sexually assault them if i didnt give him money says vishwaluckily for him a train was just leaving the station in time for vishwa to