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Mugging Website Ambushed

Mugging Website Ambushed
Mugging Website Ambushed

A new website Kheftgiri.com, where users could report cases of mugging in Tehran, has been filtered only a few days after its launch.

The website aimed to alert citizens of Tehran about the times and areas where crime rates are high. Its homepage displayed a map of Tehran with a logo of a criminal pinned in spots where several cases of mugging had been reported by users.

While noting that there would have been no use for the website if crime rates had fallen, the statement explained that the site’s founders had been mugged several times in Tehran, stripped of their belongings and threatened with knives and machetes.

“We started our website so that anybody who has suffered the same fate could register the time and place of mugging. This way everybody gets to know about the dangerous areas in Tehran,” it said.

There was even a gray button on the homepage that said “Click if you are a mugger!” The button led to a page titled “It’s not nice to mug. It’s a crime and costs other people dearly.”  

The page explained that most muggers are uneducated, have family problems, either with one or two addicted parents, or lacking any guardian whatsoever.

Several links offered help—one even listed social workers around Tehran. Another reason listed for mugging was that those who committed them might have no technical skills. Hence, such people were directed to vocational training organizations. Those who were out of work were directed to job placement websites, while addicts were shown the list of rehab centers around the city.

In a recent update, the website owners said the site has been filtered. While the site operated for only three days, 170 cases of mugging had been reported.

In a statement on the site, its founders said they had not been given prior notice about the filtering while noting that they have a meeting scheduled with the police department in the coming week.    

 

Financialtribune.com