Katmandu, October 4: In a bid to curb sexual violence in the country, the Nepal government on Thursday ordered a crackdown on more than 24,000 pornography websites. The move comes after people in Nepal expressed anguish over the brutal rape and murder of a 13-year-old schoolgirl in July and demanded a crackdown on 'pornography and vulgar' content. Following the mounting criticism, the Nepal government announced a crackdown on "pornography and vulgar content" last Friday. The murder of the minor sparked protest rallies across the country in August, where one person was killed and over a dozen were injured, a PTI report stated.

"Easy access to porn and vulgar content through the internet has affected our social values and social harmony and it has encouraged sexual violence," the Nepal government said in a statement. The rape and murder of the minor raised questions of safety and the nation were accused of not taking adequate action in rape cases. According to a PTI report, the anger among the people of Nepal spurred after a video emerged of police officers destroying evidence. Moreover, the government stoked further ire by describing the protests as a conspiracy against the ruling party. China Shuts Over 4,000 Porn, Other 'Harmful' Websites in Clean-Up Campaign.

According to reports, the list of websites that the telecoms authority has told providers to block has not been made public. However, Binaya Bohara, CEO of Vianet, an internet service provider warned that the vague directive issued by the Nepal government would be difficult to follow as there are many back-end ways to reach these sites. Pornhub, Reddit, Tumblr And 50 More Websites Are on 'Red Alert' Supporting Net Neutrality Vote in Congress.

Several activists condemned the government’s move and said the ban by the government exposes its lack of understanding of how the internet works. Meanwhile, Women's rights activist Mohna Ansari of the National Human Rights Commission was quoted in the report saying that the ban on porn websites is not a solution to control sexual violence and rape. Ansari further added saying that the real problem was the lack of justice for women who take complaints of domestic and sexual violence to the police and no action is taken against the culprits.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 04, 2018 09:23 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).