INTRODUCTION
Revenge Porn means an act of sharing sexually explicit images or videos of another person without their consent. It is a non-consensual cyber-crime with the aim of causing a person distress or harm. It is also referred as non-consensual pornography. It includes materials that can be shared both online and offline by uploading to the internet (porn websites) and social media platforms, sharing by text and e-mail etc. The essential elements of revenge porn are the perpetrator and the victim, who shared a private relationship, and the perpetrator has intentionally leaked sexually explicit images or videos without victim’s consent, just to harass or torture the victim.
WHY DOES REVENGE PORN HAPPEN?
With the advent of technology and modernisation, the idea of revenge porn is mushrooming globally. Revenge porn is becoming a soft tool for the perpetrator in quest for vengeance. It is gender neutral, victims can be both men and women but most often it is the women who are targeted. Reason for revenge porn is very rhetoric. Feeling hurt and betrayed can urge to inflict the same type of pain on the person that has caused it. People who resort to revenge porn possess a general lack of morality and empathy for others. They don’t care about the victim’s reputation and mental trauma which they’ll experience later.
Nowadays, watching porn is generally accepted and its growing acceptance plays a pivotal role in revenge porn. Watching porn regularly has a detrimental effect on behaviour of a person. It provides an opportunity to occur in the first place. Because of lack of awareness and desensitization of porn, many people find sexting or videoing intimate moments a general display of affection or desire. It is a voluntarily act in good faith in the course of an intimate relationship that later becomes the material for abusing in various ways.
LAWS FOR PROTECTION OF VICTIM AGAINST REVENGE PORN
Revenge porn blatantly infringes the victim’s Right to Privacy & Right to bodily integrity which are fundamental rights guaranteed by our Constitution of India.[1] However, there is no specific law enacted by the Parliament to deal with revenge porn in India. The accused is booked under different provisions of various laws specifically under the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (hereinafter IPC) & the Information Technology Act, 2000 (hereinafter IT Act). In revenge porn cases, police usually book perpetrator or accused under Sections 354, 354C, 500, and 509 of the IPC & Sections 66E, 67, 67A of the IT Act. In cases of revenge porn, one good thing is that the victim doesn’t have to be present at the police station to file a complaint; anyone can file a complaint on his/her behalf. Victim can also request that a female police officer to lodge a complaint, but there is no official provision regarding it.
PROVISIONS OF THE IPC
- Sec 354 deals with outraging the modesty of a woman. It states “Assault or use of criminal force to any woman, intending to outrage or knowing it to be likely that he will thereby outrage her modesty with intent to outrage her modesty”. It is punished with imprisonment for 1 year which may extend to 5 years, and with fine.[2]
- Sec 354C deals with voyeurism. Explanation (ii) of the section states “Where the victim consents to the capture of the images or any act, but not to their dissemination to third persons and where such images or act is disseminated, such dissemination shall be considered an offence under this section.” It is a cognizable offence with punishment of imprisonment of not less than 1 year which may extend to 3 years, and with fine on first conviction. For second or subsequent conviction, punishment of imprisonment of not less than 3 years which may extend to 7 years, and with fine.[3]
- Sec 500 deals with defamation which is non-cognizable offence. It states “Whoever defames another shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, and with fine.”[4]
- Sec 509 deals with insulting the modesty of a woman by using word, gesture or act which intrudes upon the privacy of such woman. It is a cognizable offence with simple imprisonment for 3 years and with fine.[5]
PROVISIONS OF THE IT ACT
- Sec 66E stipulates punishment for violation of privacy. It punishes any person who intentionally or knowingly transmits images depicting the private areas of a person without his or her consent and violating the privacy of that person. The person shall be punished with imprisonment of 3 years and with fine of two lakh rupees.
- Under Sec 67 & 67A, an offence is committed by a person who publishes or transmits any material which is lascivious or appeals to the prurient interest. It deals with Punishment for publishing or transmitting obscene or lascivious material containing sexually explicit act, etc. in electronic form.
Ministry of Women & Child Development, a branch of the Government of India, is an apex body for formulating laws relating to women. 1n 1986, the Parliament passed The Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986. The said act comes under the Ministry of Women & Child Development. The act was passed with an objective to prohibit indecent representation of women through advertisements or in publications, writings, paintings, figures or in any other manner.[6] Victim can also complain against accused under Section 4 read with Section 6 of the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986.
- Sec 4 deals with prohibition of publication or sending by post of books, pamphlets, etc., containing indecent representation of women. It states “No person shall produce or cause to be produced, sell, let to hire, distribute, circulate or send by post any book, pamphlet, paper, slide, film, writing, drawing, painting, photograph, representation or figure which contains indecent representation of women in any form.”[7]
- Sec 6 provides punishment for contravening Sec 4. Punishment of rigorous imprisonment and with a fine.[8]
Apart from law, the victim can contact social media sites to get images or videos removed. Facebook provides “Report” feature and Google allows removing such contents in Google searches. Porn websites can also be approached to remove clips if uploaded without the victim’s consent.
CASE STUDY: STATE OF WEST BENGAL V ANIMESH BOXI
The case of State of West Bengal v Animesh Boxi[9], is of historic significance as it is the first conviction in a ‘revenge porn’ case in India and the harsh punishment sends out a strong message to perpetrators of revenge pornography.[10]
In this case, the accused after blackmailing the victim uploaded her objectionable pictures on porn sites. The accused was charged under Sec 354, 453C, 500, 509 & 44 of the IPC and under Sec 66E, 67, 67A of the IT Act respectively. The Court held the accused guilty of all the the offences as charged and sentenced him to five years imprisonment along with a fine of Rs. 9,000. It also ordered that the victim be paid compensation under the state’s Victim Compensation Scheme.
CONCLUSION
Cyber crime is significantly increasing day by day. Every person, male or female must act in a prudent manner. Sensitization of revenge porn is need of the hour. Everyone should be careful about what they are clicking and sharing while in a relationship including marriage. The recent Supreme Court judgment recognising privacy as a fundamental right under Article 21[11] could have substantial implications in recognising the right to bodily integrity. Societal attitude should change and it must provide moral support to the victim in such circumstances. Stringent law must be enacted so that the perpetrators can be punished.
[1] Article 21, The Constitution of India, 1950.
[2] Section 354, The Indian Penal Code, 1860.
[3] Section 354C, The Indian Penal Code, 1860.
[4] Section 500, The Indian Penal Code, 1860.
[5] Section 509, The Indian Penal Code, 1860.
[6] The Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986.
[7] Section 4, The Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986.
[8] Section 6, The Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986.
[9] State of West Bengal v Animesh Boxi CRM No 11806 of 2017.
[10] Sahana Chaudhuri, ‘Indian Court Sets Precedent in a Revenge Porn Case’ (The Cyber Blog India, 24 March 2018) < https://cyberblogindia.in/revenge-porn-judgement-west-bengal/> accessed 23 March 2020.
[11] KS Puttaswamy v Union of India (2017) 10 SCC 1.
This article is authored by Kumar Satyam, student of B.A. L.LB (Hons.) at National Law University Odisha, Cuttack.
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