New Delhi: A Delhi court, while expressing its concerns over the rise in sexual crimes against minor children in the cyber world, awarded a 5-year imprisonment to a man in a case of morphing images of a child, saying similarly placed tech-savvy criminals should think several times before committing any such crime with children.
Additional sessions judge Susheel Bala Dagar termed the act of the 34-year-old convict of using minor child’s images for pornographic purposes and threatening the minor of defamation as cyber bullying.
Tech-savvy criminals should think several times before committing any such crime with children: Court
“Convict does not deserve any leniency, so that similarly placed tech-savvy criminals should think several times before committing any such crime with children,” the court said.
The man was convicted under the provisions of the Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, Information Technology (IT) Act and under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) provision for criminal intimidation.
Convict was guilty of ‘sexting’ minor child and ‘sextortion’: Court
The court said it was established from the material before it that the convict was guilty of “sexting” the minor child and “sextortion” and he threatened to upload morphed photo of the victim on the internet and social media platforms to defame her if she did not obey his command.
This is case of image-based cyber bullying of victim child: Court
“This is one such case of image-based cyber bullying of the victim child. The perpetrator satisfied his anger and frustration by transmitting morphed sexually provocative portrayals (photos) of the victim and threatening to publicly defame the victim by misusing information or her photograph available in the public domain,” the court said.
The court further said that respect for the reputation of females, specifically female children, shows the basic civility of a society and it is a demand for justice that the award of punishment has to be in consonance with the legislative command and the discretion vested in the court.
Court suggested govt to organise workshops in schools to enlighten students and their parents about cyber crimes
The court also suggested the government and its functionaries to consider organising workshops in schools to enlighten the students and their parents about cyber crimes.
“There is a lack of general awareness amongst the masses about maintaining privacy and where and to whom to report when such crime is detected in the first instance,” the court said.
Court also awarded Rs 5 lakh compensation to minor victim
The court awarded the convict five years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1 lakh under Section 67B (punishment for publishing or transmitting material depicting children in a sexually explicit act, etc., in electronic form) of the IT Act, five-year rigorous imprisonment and a three- year rigorous imprisonment under sections 14 (using a child for pornographic purposes) and 12 (sexual harassment), respectively, under the POCSO Act and one-year imprisonment under section 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC. The court said that all sentences will run concurrently, news agency PTI reported.
The court also awarded Rs 5 lakh compensation to the minor victim.
