After altering the pictures of at least seven girls and sharing the lewd pictures in a Whatsapp group, four young lads from the city have been charged.
A portion of the females whose images have been altered are pupils of one of the most established private schools in Pulakeshinagar, East Bengaluru, while the remaining girls are former students of that same institution. All four of the alleged lads attended the same school.
On May 30, the 17-year-old girl’s father filed a complaint with the Bharatinagar police, requesting that those four guys be held accountable for the incident. As per his grievance, his daughter, a class 12 student, discovered lately that a few of her classmates who had graduated from high school, had altered her pictures and uploaded them to a Whatsapp group. On May 28, she was told about this by a friend of the accused lads and a classmate.
School was of no help: The dad said.
Her older brother met one of the accused after the girl told her parents. When he checked the other person’s phone, he saw explicit pictures of his sister and other females in a Whatsapp group. That group consisted just of the four boys who were accused.
According to the girl’s father, his daughter knew one of the males who were charged. They had become friends on Instagram. Then he downloaded her photo and merged her with his friends.
“Since the boys were no longer enrolled with the school, they said they won’t be able to do much. We then approached the police,” he said.
A complaint has been filed in accordance with IPC section 354 A (Sexual Harassment) and the Information Technology Act. The teenage boys vowed to remove the images once they acknowledged committing the act. We’ve taken control of their gadgets. We have given the accused, who are students, time to confess if they had spread the photographs elsewhere, an officer stated.
According to Law.
The punishment for morphing pictures of minor girls varies by jurisdiction but generally involves severe penalties due to the involvement of minors and the nature of the crime. In India, the Information Technology Act, 2000, and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, provide a legal framework for dealing with such offenses:
- Under the Information Technology Act, 2000:
- Section 66E: Violation of privacy can lead to imprisonment for up to three years or a fine up to two lakh rupees, or both.
- Section 67: Publishing or transmitting obscene material can result in imprisonment for up to three years on first conviction, with a fine up to five lakh rupees. Subsequent convictions can lead to imprisonment up to five years and fines up to ten lakh rupees.
- Section 67A: Publishing or transmitting material containing sexually explicit acts can result in imprisonment for up to five years and fines up to ten lakh rupees on first conviction, and for subsequent convictions, imprisonment up to seven years and fines up to ten lakh rupees.
- Under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012:
- Section 14: Using a child for pornographic purposes is punishable with imprisonment for up to five years and a fine, with stricter punishments for subsequent offenses.
- Section 15: Storing pornographic material involving a child is punishable with imprisonment up to three years or with a fine or both.
Combining these laws, individuals involved in morphing images of minor girls can face significant jail time, hefty fines, and a criminal record that can impact their future. Legal consequences are designed to protect minors from exploitation and abuse, emphasizing the seriousness of such offenses.
It is very important that we teach our children how to treat women or any person in general with dignity and respect. Any person must not face such heinous crimes just because she said “No” to that person, we must learn to respect their boundaries. To use the internet and technology to help us and not harm us in any way.
