Formulate programme to educate students that posting ‘intimate content’ without consent violates law: Delhi HC tells DSLSA
While denying bail to a rape accused, the court stated that this case was distinguishable as the accused had not only made video recordings and photographs of his relationship with the victim but also had continuously threatened to post them on social media.
The Delhi High Court on Thursday told the Delhi State Legal Services Authority (DSLSA) to formulate a programme whereby they may educate the students, potentially vulnerable victims as well as the teenagers about the criminality in posting 'intimate content' on social media without the consent of the person concerned.
The bench of Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma noted that in a large percentage of cases of sexual assault, the victims allege that inappropriate videos or photographs of relationships had been made by one of the parties and under threat of posting them on social media, they were sexually abused not being able to understand or know as to how to deal with such situations.
“Therefore, in cases of sexual assault without consent or under some inducement, inappropriate videos and photographs are captured which are used for a long time for blackmailing the victims and continuing the sexual abuse. Even at times, this Court has witnessed cases where young boys have been sexually abused, assaulted and have been victims of such blackmailing”, the single-judge bench said.
Justice Sharma was hearing a bail plea filed by one Sakib Ahmed charged under Sections 328, 376, and 506 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012.
The applicant (man) was accused of raping a minor girl and allegedly threatening her to keep quiet, or else he would post the pictures and videos on social media.
Allegedly, under such a threat, the prosecutrix continued talking to him. The victim further alleged that the applicant again made physical relations with her and he was forcing her to marry him by changing her religion.
On the contrary, the counsel for the accused stated that he knew the prosecutrix for around three years, and relations between them were consensual in nature. He also stated that the investigation in the present case was complete and a chargesheet had already been filed and also the accused had no criminal antecedents and he had been in judicial custody since February 22, 2023.
Distinguishing innocent, consensual, teenage love relationship from sexual abuse under threat, pressure, blackmailing, and violence, the court said, “The contention of learned counsel for the applicant that the prosecutrix herself was in a consensual relationship and therefore, now cannot take a plea that she had been sexually assaulted is not tenable at this stage”.
The court stated that the present case was distinguishable as the accused had not only made video recordings and photographs of their relationship but also had continuously threatened to post them on social media and under the said threat, he had continued to sexually exploit her.
“This case, therefore, does not fall under the category of those cases where the relationship is consensual without any threat or criminality. Moreover, there are specific allegations in this case that due to the violent and abusive behavior of the accused and continuous threats and blackmailing, the prosecutrix herein wanted to break the relationship, however, he did not let her live in peace and also started harassing her in tuition classes”, the court said.
The court also stated that the accused threatened to make public the intimate videos and images that he had captured without the consent of the prosecutrix and was using them to blackmail her and in return was asking for sexual favors. Thus, he was using the sexualized photos and videos as a tool to threaten, socially shame, embarrass, defame, and blackmail her to coerce her into a sexual relationship, court opined.
“To sum up, had it been a case of consensual adolescent mutual love as argued by the learned counsel for the applicant, it would have no place for abusing, blackmailing, inducement, threat, violence, pressurizing and threatening her to convert to his religion for the purpose of forcibly getting married to her even when she wanted to get out of the abusive relationship. She was put under fear and threat of social shaming of herself and her family, which does not indicate that it was a consensual innocent adolescent mutual love relationship”, the single-judge bench said.
Case Title: Sakib Ahmed v. State NCT of Delhi