When Bunty becomes Babli

Young boys in the city are making a quick buck by imitating female voices on sex chat lines, to fool desperate men.

If you thought that sexy voice on the chat line is that of a girl who must look like a goddess, be prepared to be disappointed — it could well be that of a jeans and T-shirt clad guy sitting in front of his computer in a one-room Delhi apartment. City cops have confirmed that in a trend that’s on an alarming rise, many young boys are faking female voices to entertain men on sex chat, thereby earning a quick buck with some gender-dodging.

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These youngsters are hired by online sex chat clubs to fool desperate men, who are looking for some titillating talk. The conmen are given fake names, and pretend to be a ‘naughty 20-something girl’ on the phone. All they have to do is to ‘talk dirty’, and the chat club gives them money in return, which many of them end up spending on their girlfriends.

Aryan, a 25-year-old student who works part-time for one such ‘friendship and chat club’, shares, “I can modulate my voice to make it sound like a girl’s and it’s paying off. I use a fake name, Avantika, to indulge in sex talk with men and get paid on an hourly basis (R300 per hour). I spend all the money on my girlfriend.”

Some guys even fool men in Internet chats rooms by having a ‘phone affair’ with them. Neeraj Gupta, a commerce student, and his friends, dupe men into believing they are girls. “We voice chat with them, and request them to recharge our phones, which they happily do.”

The cops are not pleased. Additional DCP (crime branch), Joy Tirkey, says, “We recently busted an extortion case, where the abductor had befriended a city-based businessman using a female voice. He had a Chinese mobile that had voice changing software.” Software expert Mustafa Shehenshah, director, Bizon Tech, says, “The Internet is full of such softwares that guys can download to change their voice to hundreds of different female voices.”

Speech therapists say the trick may come naturally to some. Dr Raj Sharma, consultant speech therapist, Max Healthcare, recalls meeting a 22-year-old boy, Nishant Sahu, who talks in a female voice with ease and uses his ability to play pranks on men.

Account of a ‘voice’ con artist
I can fake a woman’s voice with ease. At times, I also use voice-changing softwares. I pick up my targets online in various chat rooms. The easiest targets are married men and middle-aged uncles. At times, I pretend to be a struggling model, and sometimes, I become a NRI girl who’s just returned to the country. I also fake an accent to convince people. I get a kick when men get fooled by me. I once fooled a Delhi trader into sending me R25,000 after voice chatting with him for a month.

*Name withheld for privacy