top of page
Writer's pictureHitakshi Maggo

Cyber Crime Revenge Porn

Author: Hitakshi Maggo Student, Fairfield Institute of Management and Technology


Digital India is good in many ways but as each and every coin has two sides. It also has loopholes too now a days, due to a facility of internet which gives rise to the new opportunities. The facility of internet has improved to a great extent that if we want to study, we can easily get our resources from internet. But we should keep one thing in our mind that there are always two sides of a coin. Internet also has its own disadvantages. One of the major disadvantages of Internet is Cyber Crime i.e., illegal activities committed on the internet and nowadays cyber crime is growing and is spreading rapidly, but we have security options to deal with the same. But with the help of security options problems can be solved partially not fully and sometimes it becomes very difficult to cope up with the situation. Though there are various legal remedies available but the reputation and life of a person becomes miserable after such offences happen to them. Sometimes even after getting the justice people commit suicide because they are ashamed of what is happening.

Cyber stalking is one of the forms of crime through which one person threats or humiliates or sexually assaults another person with the motive of taking revenge or to fulfill his/her sexual needs. In one of the famous cases of Ritu Kohli, it was the first case in India which dealt with cyber stalking. The accused was stalking a person named Ritu Kohli and chatted with others on a website under her name using obscene language, leaked her mobile number and invited the chatters to chat with her on the phone. The person was booked under the provisions of Section 509 of the Indian Penal Code. As per the provisions of this section a person is booked for outraging the modesty of a woman through words, gestures or an act intended to insult her. But if the same is done over the internet, there was no provisions in law for that. Hence, Section 66 of Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008 came into action which states the punishment for sending offensive messages through communication services.

Cyber Grooming is when a person tricks a younger person into a friendly relationship with the intention of sexually assaulting or harassing the person. It may leave a drastic effect on one’s mental health for a very long period of time. According to recent research the main reason for Cyber Stalking in India is Sexual Harassment where a person harasses someone with a motive to have intercourse or to fulfil his/her physical needs. Now you may think what is Revenge porn and what is a connection of the same with cyber crime. Revenge porn is not just a porn which gives someone an enjoyment it is a life threatening technique used by the criminals to hurt someone’s feelings or to threat them to that instinct that they cant even imagine.

Saddam Hussain v. State of Madhya Pradesh (2016) SCC MP 1471

In this case, the offender sexually abused a woman and recorded the same and later on started blackmailing the woman. He was convicted under the provisions of Section 354D and Section 507 Indian Penal Code as well as S. 66A of the Information Technology Act.

Revenge Porn

It is a type of crime where a person threats a woman to be with him physical otherwise, he is going to leak her personal images and videos all over the internet. It is a type of cyber stalking or harassment, humiliation, kind of rape, etc.

Revenge porn occurs when a psycho person threats a lady or a woman for his needs. Most of us in the affection of love and for enjoyment share our personal images/videos with someone trusting them and loving them but onw might not have an idea that how much of a life-threatening moment it is going to be for you. It is not wrong to have physical relations but one should not share their personal photos or videos via internet because you don’t know how this will end up. You may think how can it comes under the word rape, according to the provisions of Section 375 of Indian Penal Code if a women gives her consent under threat then it can not be considered as consent and offender will be punished under the provisions of section 376 of Indian Penal Code for committing rape.

According to reports there are many cases registered where, a women shares her personal photos and videos via WhatsApp  or any other social media platform with her boyfriend with trust and in love, but after sometime when their boyfriend becomes aggressive about their needs/physical needs and demand for more personal photos and videos or for having physical relation and if a women denies to do so or if she is not ready, than the men becomes violent and tries to threaten her by saying that if she won’t do so he is going to leak all her personal pictures and videos on internet. Due to society or family fear women agrees to do so, without knowing that this is not goanna end.

In the case of State of West Bengal vs. Animesh Boxi, a man leaked all the images of girl on internet without her consent which were of intimate and offensive in nature. He was in a deep connection or relationship with the victim and clicked her photos by misrepresenting her by making a false promise of marriage. Accused leaked the images on a porn sites by stating her name as well as her father’s name for taking revenge because victim broke the relationship with him.

Likewise many similar cases have arose where a person takes revenge because of breaking up the relationship. But one should understand that you can’t force someone to be with you. If you force someone to be with you then it is not a matter of love. A relationship can not be continued on a threat or forced it will be a complete failure for both and by doing this someone’s life will become hell.

In this case, Hon’ble Sessions court held accused guilty for the same and punished the accused with 5 years of imprisonment and a fine of Rs. 9000/- for posting personal images of a girl on internet without her consent. He was convicted under the provisions of Section 254, 354A, 354C and 509 of Indian Penal Code as well as under the provisions of Section 66E, 67 & 67A Information Technology Act.

One would never want to go through with all of this because of this many women’s get depressed or attempt to commit suicide. They don’t have enough courage to face the society and their families because everyone is going to blame them. It is not your fault to trust someone but never trust someone blindly enough to get yourself in trouble. Offenders should also know how these affects someone’s life, in India women’s dignity is a very serious thing. Whenever someone’s dignity gets hurt the society blames the women and never think from their side because of which many of the women attempt to commit suicide or end up going in depression.

As cyber crime is a threat in all the countries and we can say that it is a worldwide crime which can be a threat at a larger scale. As we know that a person can access to an account of any country by being in any other country and thus it can be considered to be a threat on international level. Certain steps should be taken at the international level for preventing the cyber crime. Complete justice must be provided to the victims of cyber crime by way of compensatory remedy and offenders should be punished.

There are various laws to combat with this situation like Indian Penal Code, Information Technology Act but one has to be safe by protecting herself/himself. One should never share personal pictures or videos with someone over internet because in future one can regret the same for their entire life.

Such acts can be covered under the provisions of Section 292 of Indian Penal Code which covers the aspect of spread of such obscene material, it can also be considered to be Voyeurism which is covered under the provisions of section 354(C) of Indian Penal Code. One can also file a case of criminal breach of trust under the provisions of Section 406 of Indian Penal Code under which the accused will be punished with imprisonment for a period of 3 years. Not only this but if anyone does such crime to hamper your image than it can also be consider as an offence and can be covered under the provisions of section 499 of Indian Penal Code and defamation under the provisions of Section 500 under the provisions of Indian Penal Code will be punished with imprisonment of 2 years or with fine or with both.

Under the provisions of Information Technology Act a person can file a case against the accused under the provisions of section 66E which is related to leaking of personal images of victims as an offence and will get punished for imprisonment for 3 years or with fine of not exceeding 2 lakh Rs or with both. Publishing of obscene material over internet is also considered as an offense under the provisions of section 67 of Information Technology Act, 2000 and the offenders will be punished with imprisonment of 3 years and fine up to 5 lacs on first conviction. These are some of the provisions which cover revenge porn.

If you want to save yourself from cyber crime, or revenge porn you should refrain from sharing your personal photos or videos via Internet or through any mode because it can be life a time regret. A women can demand for injunction from court to remove such vulgar images of hers from the internet if anything like this happens.

155 views
bottom of page