The curious case of vanishing privacy

Hours after 24-year-old engineer Koushabi Layek was found murdered in a hotel room in Mumbai on May 14, scores of armchair detectives were on the job. They browsed through pages of personal data of the victim and her boyfriend, the suspect. Every friend of the duo was put to questions by the journalists, bloggers, browsers and of course, the police. Even before Manish Thakur, a navyman in Goa, was caught, online angry young men and women were on him. Worse, they had begun a trial.

Even murder has lost its privacy. Assuming the Manish Thakur who rented a hotel room with Koushambi in his name on May 12 and the Manish Thakur who features as an Orkut friend of Koushambi since January are the same, he left little to public imagination. The suspect had left too many leads on Orkut, “an online community that connects people through a network of trusted friends”. The site also provided the much-needed drama to the intrigue. Orkut brand of voyeurism was on print.

“hii this is manish here. hope u will find it interesting with me. all the best. only good friends are allowed thankx...,” Manish says about him in his Orkut profile. Koushambi gives an ironic testimonial: “Well, what to say about this sportive guy... He is really caring and loving guy... He is amazing, awesome and friendly. I neednot describe him as anyone close to him must surely be aware of his abilities. He is an all rounder.. Be it in the field of studies, sports or music. He is a champo...Don't u think so???”

Manish's scrapbook, full of abuses from people shocked over the murder, begins with two scraps from Koushambi welcoming him to the online community on Jan 2: “hi betu, welcome to orkut. thanks for updating d description. its nice to go thru it now.” Manish must have been working in Southern Naval Command, Kochi then. On February 10, he moved to Goa. A couple of months later, Manish writes to another friend: “hi this is manish from navy here remember me. i am koushambis -------” and so on.

Science fiction tells us of a future when past voices can be restored and recorded. This case has something akin to it. Scraps on Orkut are part of a lively conversation between friends, lost friends and wannabe friends. When Koushambi, Manish or any of their mutual friends were scrapping each other with a simple ‘hi’, little did they realize that they were saving their offline chat for a cop to peruse later. Orkutians are smart anyway. The fugitive had only two friends remaining on his list, including the deceased Koushambi.

If state was doing what peeping toms did on Orkut, laymen were doing a state on Orkut. Hate messages on Manish’s scrapbook were equaled only by the sympathies on Koushambi’s scrapbook. Communities sprang up for the victim and a single one defending the suspect. Sane voices were drowned in the commotion. You were either against the “devil” or for him. The verdict was given even before the charge sheet was read. But the police are definitely ahead with other possible scenarios.

What if the sailor’s lack of caution in executing the murder was deliberate? Manish, gave his true id at the hotel. He didn’t collect his sneakers while fleeing after the murder. He went straight to Goa, his camp where the police would first look for him. He went prepared for the murder, but he was not prepared for the cover-up. Police suggest there was a suicide pact between Koushambi and Manish, married with a kid. The colourful world of the web, however, has everything in black & white.