The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has taken a cognisance against a discreet extramarital app which has officially surpassed over four million users in the country.
In its notice to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, the rights body has asked for an action report by April 23.
Posting on X, Priyank Kanoongo, a member of the NHRC said that the complaint was filed by Sewa Nyaya Utthan Foundation, a non-profit organisation working on protecting vulnerable people from exploitation.
He further said the complaint mentioned Gleeden as a social networking app offering married men and women to engage in extramarital relationships, saying about 40 lakh Indians were already using the application.
In its concern, the non-profit organisation said the application purely functions on promoting adultery and sexual relationships outside marriage.
It could cause breakdown of marriages and can even lead to domestic abuse, increasing risk of suicide, the NHRC member reiterated the complaint.
Such applications are against the social-familial structure of the country and contradict the religious-cultural context, he added.
As per Moneycontrol, NHRC has urged the ministry to verify if this application usage is legally permissible within the legal framework of the country.
Also, such applications can increase the risk of people using false identities, exploiting women and children having access to the application, read the complaint.
The numbers obtained from the application-led survey suggests that about 18 percent users are from Bengaluru, followed by Hyderabad (17 percent), Delhi (11 percent), Mumbai (9 percent) and Pune (7 percent).