The Punjab and Haryana High Court held that granting bail in this “well-orchestrated conspiracy of sextortion” would “greatly harm” the investigation.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court refused to grant regular bail to a woman accused in a cyber sextortion case, emphasizing the “terrifying and dehumanizing violation” involved in secretly recording explicit videos for the purpose of blackmail.
The Court rejected a petition filed under Section 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS) by the accused, who allegedly extorted crores of rupees from a 73-year-old doctor (complainant) through blackmail. According to the FIR, the accused had recorded an obscene and nude video of the complainant and subsequently used it to extort money from him.
A Single Bench of Justice Sandeep Moudgil observed, “Such acts are currently the highest reported form of image-based sexual abuse, a form of online blackmail which has been growing in prevalence since 2021. What is concerning are the recent incidents of sextortion which are not entirely surprising given the increase in online social interactions during lockdowns, particularly by way of online dating. The predators deceive and manipulate the gullible person mostly teenagers by engaging them in explicit activity over video, secretly record it, and threaten to post such clips online if the victim does not make up to their financial demands. This terrifying and dehumanizing violation feeds on victim’s shame.”
Brief Facts
The complainant claimed that following the video call, he was contacted by a man dressed in a police uniform, who posed as a senior CBI officer. This individual allegedly intimidated the complainant by stating that the woman in the video had committed suicide. He was further threatened that his nude video would be circulated on YouTube and other social media platforms if he failed to pay.
An FIR was filed against the accused under Sections 204, 308(2), 306(6), 318(4), 319, and 61 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
Court’s Reasoning
The High Court noted, “There are evidence of threatening and blackmailing the complainant on WhatsApp and in the chain of investigation, a sum of Rs.6 lakhs from the money extorted from the complainant…has been recovered from the house of the petitioner in Jaipur.”
The Court observed that cyber sextortion cases have been increasing which involve the manipulation of “gullible people mostly teenagers” by engaging them in “explicit activity over video, secretly record it, and threaten to post such clips online if the victim does not make up to their financial demands.”“The emotional results for victims — especially kids — is devastating. Feeling embarrassed, hopeless and isolated, many of victims have nowhere to turn and some even go so far as to take their own lives without knowing that help is available,” it observed.
“It is disquieting to learn the implications of arming the petitioner with the regular bail, who has been confronted with allegations of this nature involving well-orchestrated conspiracy of sextortion, which would undoubtedly greatly harm the investigation and would impede the prospects of unearthing all the ramifications involved in such online fraud and scam. Indeed, the public interest also would suffer as a consequence,” the Bench remarked.
The Court also remarked, “Umpteen number of cases with similar fact patterns have been reported on the National Cyber Reporting Portal, where unsuspecting individuals have fallen victim to such criminals like the accused persons using an identical modus operandi. This suggests that the present case is part of a larger pattern of criminal activity, rather than an isolated incident.”
Accordingly, the High Court dismissed the Petition.