Kerala crackdown targets online child abuse networks

Kerala Police have carried out more than 660 raids in a statewide crackdown on the online sexual exploitation of children, seizing hundreds of devices and opening scores of investigations.

The operation, known as P-Hunt, led to 26 arrests and 175 cases registered for further investigation. Police also served 18 notices that could lead to additional arrests after forensic examinations.

Global child safety institute Childlight, which works with Kerala Police, said the action was among the largest such operations in India. It linked the arrests to a wider international market for child sexual abuse material, which it said generates billions of dollars in profits.

Device seizures

The Counter Child Sexual Exploitation Centre operation resulted in the seizure of 431 devices, including mobile phones, memory cards, hard drives and laptops. Police said the items contained child sexual abuse material.

Indian law prohibits the possession of sexually explicit images of children under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences law, with related provisions under the IT Act and the BNS law.

Investigators said some suspects were believed to have sold sexual images of children for profit. Police did not disclose where the material was distributed or whether any suspects had links outside India.

Rising volumes

The operation comes as authorities and child safety groups report a sharp increase in online child sexual abuse material. Researchers say it circulates across social media services, file-sharing apps and gaming devices.

Childlight estimates that more than 300 million children globally are subjected to technology-facilitated sexual abuse each year. It said the harm can be long lasting and has been associated with depression, self-harm, problems at school, and difficulties with relationships and employment later in life.

Experts warn the damage can continue after the initial abuse when material is repeatedly shared or viewed. Childlight said the problem remains preventable if authorities and platforms act on evidence and opportunities to disrupt networks.

International indicators

Recently released statistics from the US-based National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) highlighted 27,946 cases of child sexual abuse material hosted on Irish computers. The figures offer a snapshot of how material is stored and distributed across borders, based on reports made to the organisation by technology platforms.

NCMEC said it received reports of more than 20 million abuse images globally in 2024, including more than 2 million linked to India. The same dataset said India hosts the lowest amount per head of population among South Asian countries.

Childlight has also pointed to national-level estimates of offending. It said Australia had about 700,000 male offenders-enough, it said, to fill the Gabba stadium in Brisbane 17 times over.

Partnership model

Childlight is hosted by the University of Edinburgh and the University of New South Wales. It works with law enforcement and other organisations on data evaluation, harm measurement and knowledge exchange on victim identification practices.

Its partnership with Kerala Police began in 2023 alongside the c0c0n conference in India, which is positioned as Asia's largest cybersecurity gathering. The organisations later collaborated on a dedicated prevention track at c0c0n 2025 in Kochi.

The collaboration included a DevOps Hackathon that produced two AI tools intended for use in child sexual abuse investigations. It also included victim identification training with police from 19 states and representatives from the India Cybercrime Coordination Centre and the Central Bureau of Investigation.

Childlight and Kerala Police have also worked with Kindred Tech, another c0c0n partner. Kindred Tech's case prioritisation and triage tool, Katalyst, is designed to handle reports and manage investigative workflows linked to online child sexual exploitation and abuse.

Expert comment

Kelvin Lay, director of Childlight's Technical Advisory Programme, said child sexual exploitation and abuse crosses borders and requires sustained enforcement and modern investigative capacity.

"Child sexual exploitation and abuse is a global health crisis affecting every country in the world.

"While huge volumes of data now highlight the scale of this issue, most countries lack the capacity or capability to respond effectively. This operation by Kerala Police demonstrates what is possible when law enforcement prioritises child protection with both resources and innovation."

Lay also emphasised the value of cross-border collaboration between researchers, police and specialist partners on investigative methods and data use.

"Childlight is proud to partner with Kerala Police on its data-backed child protection efforts, and we hope this collaborative model inspires other jurisdictions worldwide to follow their lead in taking decisive action to address this issue," he said.

He linked the case to wider debates over data sharing and transparency, including how authorities count online abuse and measure harm. "With its strong track record in data transparency, India can be a data beacon for the South Asia region and world. Childlight will continue to support Kerala Police and beyond to ensure that data turns into action to safeguard children," he said.