accessibilty toolbox
color contrast
text size
highlighting more content
zoom in
  • Register a complaint at your nearest cyber crime police station
  • You also have the option to register an online complaint on cybercrime.gov.in anonymously also.
  • Report about it to the social media account help centre

Know about what the law says with regard to this offence?  

Morphing may based on the context of the incident attract the following sections as per IT ACT.

Section 66E– Punishment for violation of privacy

  • This section covers the transmission of images of "a private area of any person without his or her consent". The punishment for the same is imprisonment for three years or with fine not exceeding two lakh rupees, or with both. This section is extremely important as Right to Privacy has been recently held to be guaranteed as a fundamental right and protected under the Right to Life in Part III of the Constitution of India, in the landmark judgement in Justice K. S. Puttaswamy (Retd.) and Anr. V. Union of India and Ors.3 Sharing of any content that would be a breach to the privacy of a person, therefore, would also be violating Article 21 of the Constitution of India.
  • Section 67 -Punishment for publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form
  • This section deals with the publishing or transmitting of obscene material (described as "any material which is lascivious or appeals to the prurient interest or if its effect is such as to tend to deprave and corrupt persons"). The punishment on first conviction is imprisonment up to three years and with fine of five lakh rupees, and subsequent convictions to be punished with imprisonment upto five years and fine which may extend to ten lakh rupees.
  • Section 67A- Punishment for publishing or transmitting of material containing sexually explicit act, etc., in electronic form. The section punishes publishing or transmitting of material which contains sexually explicit act or conduct. The punishment on first conviction is imprisonment up to five years and fine up to ten lakhs. Since the Bois Locker Room incident involved sharing of morphed images of girls, the present section is applicable.
  • Section 67B- Punishment for publishing or transmitting of material depicting children in sexually explicit act, etc., in electronic form. The present section on first conviction provides punishment of imprisonment up to five years with fine up to ten lakhs.
  • This section covers not just the depiction of children in sexual acts or conduct, but the creation or distribution of any digital text or images that depicts children "in obscene or indecent or sexually explicit manner".
  • It is pertinent to note that the present incident involves sharing of obscene or private images of minor girls. Therefore, the present section can also be recourse. Further, many of the comments and discussions also might fall within the ambit of this section.

Rate this translation