Source: Delhi High Court

Why in News?

Recently the Delhi High Court in the matter of Soukin v. The NCT State New Delhi has held that sextortion represents a profound violation of privacy and is a significant social menace.

What was the Background of Soukin v. The NCT State New Delhi Case?

• The FIR in the present case was registered at the instance of the complainant namely, Dewan Singh Malik who alleged that on 10^th October 2022, he received a WhatsApp video call from an unknown lady, who insisted for private video call and later recorded the video call.
• Thereafter, the complainant received several calls from different mobile numbers who introduced themselves as police officers/YouTube employees and extorted a total amount of ₹16 Lakhs on the pretext of removing the video from YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and by threatening him of false accusation in the murder case of the lady in the video and on the pretext of settling the matter with her family.
• During interrogation, the accused persons disclosed the names of the present applicants along with other accused persons. They stated that they used to commit such offences along with the present applicants.
• Thereafter, the applicants filed a pre-arrest bail application before the Delhi High Court for offences punishable under the Sections of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC).
• Considering the nature of the offence, no ground for grant of pre-arrest bail to the applicants is made out.

What were the Court’s Observations?

• Justice Amit Mahajan observed that sextortion represents a profound violation of privacy and is a significant social menace. It involves the exploitation of obtained intimate images and videos to extort money or favors from victims, often leading to severe psychological trauma.
• This cyber-enabled crime not only undermines individual dignity but also poses serious challenges to law enforcement due to its clandestine and cross-jurisdictional nature.

What is Sextortion?

About:

• Sextortion derives its etymology from the combination of the words sex and extortion.
  • Section 383 of IPC deals with extortion and states that whoever intentionally puts any person in fear of any injury to that person, or to any other, and thereby dishonestly induces the person so put in fear to deliver to any person any property, or valuable security or anything signed or sealed which may be converted into a valuable security, commits extortion.
  • Section 384 of IPC provides punishment for extortion and states that whoever commits extortion shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both.
• It is a form of sexual abuse in which a person blackmails or intimidates another person by threatening them to publicly post images or videos of them engaging in compromising situations.
• It involves pressurizing a person to give money or any other property to the extorter, failing which the extorter threatens them to leak their private images and videos on the Internet.
• In India, we still do not have a law that deals specifically with the crime of Sextortion. However, it has various laws to deal with sexual abuse.

Laws Governing Sexual Abuse:

• In India the following legal provisions govern sexual abuse:

Ways of Battling Sextortion:

• One should refrain from sharing his private data, images, or videos publicly on the Internet.
• Use enhanced security and privacy settings for data safety.
• Avoid entertaining strangers by accepting their requests on different social media platforms.
• Do not allow forced signs of intimacy by any person.
• Never allow any person, however close he may be, to capture any photograph or video of any intimate activity.
• Report to the user if you notice any suspicious activity.
• Use two-step verification measures to protect your data.
• Avoid clicking on suspicious pop-ups that claim to offer dating services.