Key points:
- The latest evil is revenge porn says Chennai court.
- The observation were made by the court while sentencing a 24-year-old to 10 years rigorous imprisonment on charges of rape and criminal intimidation.
CHENNAI: Boys videographing intimate moments with their partners and later using them to threaten and exploit them continuously are part of the latest social evil, said a city court while sentencing a 24-year-old to ten years rigorous imprisonment on charges of rape and criminal intimidation.
According to the prosecution, the accused, M Suresh, first came to know the survivor in early 2014 when he visited the factory in Ambattur where she worked.
Suresh was working as a representative of a private bank and visited the factory to collect details of the workers to open a bank account, including that of the survivor.
The prosecution submitted that after acquiring the phone number of the woman, Suresh began harassing her, forcing her to talk with him.
“If the survivor did not talk to him, he would threaten to consume poison,” the prosecution stated and also submitted that he promised to harm her family members. As the woman gave in to his threats, he took her to his house one day and forcibly had sex with her, the prosecution submitted.
He demanded that she visit his house often and when she refused, he further threatened to release the video of their intimate moments on the internet and show it same to her family.
The woman attempted suicide after learning that she was pregnant and was saved by her maternal uncle after which the family came to know about her ordeal and a complaint was lodged.
In response, counsel for the accused argued that it was a foisted case and that the two of them were in a physical relationship that was consensual.
After perusing all the evidence including the statement by the survivor, sessions Judge M Rajalakshmi held the accused guilty under Section 376 IPC (rape). The court noted that the fear of a girl who lost her chastity in an unforseen circumstance is unimaginable, if she is threatened by the man that he will release a video of their private moments and held the accused guilty for criminal intimidation.
