Legal Recourse

Relevant Sections of the BNS or IT Act:

Section 67A IT Act, 2000 (Obscenity): Publish obscene or sexual material through electronic mediums. Deals specifically with the publication or transmission of sexually explicit material, frequently used to combat revenge porn, deepfakes, and morphing of images.

Section 79 BNS, 2023 (Insult to Modesty): Covers words, gestures, or acts intended to insult the modesty of a woman.

Section 294 BNS, 2023 (Obscenity): Covers distribution or possession of obscene materials.

Section 77 of BNS, 2023 (Voyeurism): Capturing or watching a woman engaging in a private act in circumstances where she would have the expectation of not being observed.

Section 351 of BNS, 2023 (Criminal Intimidation): Threatening to harm someone’s reputation in an effort to force a person to do an act which they are not legally bound such as remaining in a relationship or performing a sexual act.

Section 66E IT Act, 2000 (Privacy Violation): Capturing or publishing intimate images without consent. Penalizes the violation of privacy, specifically capturing, publishing, or transmitting private images without consent.

Previous Case Law:

State of West Bengal vs. AnimeshBoxi 2017

Judgment was pronounced by the Session Court Tamluk, West Bengal for the offense of revenge porn and blackmailing.

Facts of the Case:

• Victim shared some intimate pictures and videos of her in the context of being in an emotional relationship.

• When she broke up with him, he blackmailed her to be with him and uploaded the material on porn sites with sensitive details about her and her family.

Court decided in favour of the victim and sentence the perpetrator to 5 years of imprisonment along with a fine of Rs. 9000. Accused was sentenced under Sections 354A, 354C, 354, and 509 of the Indian Penal Code, as well as Sections 66E, 66C, 67, and 67A of the Information Technology Act.

Relevant Sections of the BNS or IT Act:

Section 79 BNS, 2023 (Insult to Modesty): Any action, expression, or comment made with the intent to demean or violate a woman’s sense of modesty and was directed at a specific woman or a clearly identifiable group of women. This includes offensive, threatening, or obscene online messages or emails intended to insult a woman’s modesty.

Section 351 BNS, 2023 (Criminal Intimidation): Threatening another persons online with the intention of cause alarm or to cause that person to do an act which they are not legally bound. Covers threats online.

Section 356 BNS, 2023 (Defamation): Words published in a matter to enact harm against a person, including the reputation of such person. This includes defamatory posts, online rumours, and malicious comments on social media.

Section 66C IT Act (Identity Theft): Addresses creating fake profiles to impersonate someone or for reputational damage and online bullying.

Relevant Sections of the BNS or IT Act:

Section 77 BNS, 2023 (Voyeurism): Capturing or watching a woman engage in a private act where she would usually have the expectation of not being observed either by the perpetrator or by any other persons at the behest of the perpetrator.

Private acts include an act of watching carried out in a place which would reasonably be expected to provide privacy and where the victim’s genitals, posterior or breasts are exposed or covered only in underwear; or the victim is using a lavatory; or the victim is doing a sexual act that is not a kind ordinarily done in public.

Relevant Sections of the BNS or IT Act:

Section 78 BNS, 2023: Monitoring online activity or following a woman and contacting her despite her clearly stating disinterest

Includes monitoring of a woman by way of internet, e-mail, or any other form of electronic communications.

If digital stalking escalates to physical forced interaction or using technology to force a woman into an intimate, unwanted situation (Section 74 of the BNS, 2023).

Relevant Sections of the BNS or IT Act:

Section 66E of IT Act, 2000: Intentionally or knowingly capturing, publishing, or transmitting an image of any person without his or her consent.

Section 72 of IT Act, 2000: Disclosing electronic records or information without the consent of the concerned persons. Accessing unauthorized personal, confidential, or sensitive information through online means.