Several gay men have been outed by a TV news report in an Indian city.
Channel TV9 Telugu, which is broadcast in Hyderabad, carried out a ‘sting’ on gay internet dating profiles.
The programme, Gay Culture Rampant In Hyderabad, saw a reporter logging on to gay website planetromeo.com.
Users were labelled ‘deviants and their names and photos were clearly shown.
Extremely personal information about one man – including his penis size and preferred sexual position – was revealed by the programme.
The reporter also telephoned two men from the site to ask intimate questions about their sex lives and where they live and work.
The covertly-recorded conservations were broadcast with images of the men taken from their online profiles.
Footage was also secretly recorded inside a gay club.
According to an English translation of the script, programme-makers said that students and white-collar employees were becoming “slaves to [a] lifestyle which is against the natural way”.
NDTV reported that one young man attempted suicide after his parents saw him on the programme.
Gay campaigners and bloggers in India have condemned TV9 and called on gay people to complain to the channel.
An open letter to the channel from gay rights activist Aditya Bondyopadhyay accuses producers of “hunting down” gay people for the “titillation” of viewers. It added that this was a “clear case of entrapment”.
The letter asks for a public apology and warns that legal action may be taken.
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