A Judicial Magistrate in Puri today sentenced a man to six years of imprisonment in a cyber pornography (A revenge Porn) case, stated to be the first such case.
Puri Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate Shibasis Giri also slapped a Rs-9,000 fine on the convict, Jayanta Kumar Das an alleged RTI activist, A fake profile was created by the accused in the name of the victim woman from Puri Township in a pornographic site, who then had uploaded the woman’s name, address, photo and phone number on a pornographic website in 2012 to take revenge against her husband.After her personal info was posed on the site, the victim started receiving calls from numerous persons enquiring about her interest in paid sex and wife swapping.
The crime branch had arrested Das on September 18, 2012, following a complaint filed by the victim in July.He was booked under several sections of the Indian Penal Code and Information Technology Act, 2000. Sections 292, 465, 469, 500 of the Indian Penal Code and 66(C) and 67A of the Information Technology Act,2000(cyber law of India) were applied
The conviction was procured on evidence, including crucial witness statements of scientists from the Central Forensic Science Laboratory, Kolkata.
My Views:
I highly appreciate the conviction upheld as India is short of convictions for cyber crimes committed. This remains first of a kind of conviction in odisha state and could be a first serious conviction of a revenge porn in India. Maligning and destroying a girls life by defaming her online often kills a ladies zeal to live.
I feel if the convict moves for appeal, his punishment under sections of IPC would be set aside by the High Court in the light of decision made under Sharat Babu Digumarti Vs State Govt of NCT of Delhi but punishment under Sections 66(c) & 67A could be confirmed on merits of the case.
