A 19-year-old college student in Hyderabad has demonstrated remarkable courage by refusing to succumb to the threats of cyber blackmailers. Instead of paying the demanded ransom of ₹50,000 to prevent the circulation of her morphed nude video on social media, she approached the police. Upon learning that she had filed a complaint, the accused swiftly deactivated their social media accounts. The police have registered a criminal case against them based on the student's statement.
Incident Details
The complainant, a first-year undergraduate student, approached the Hyderabad cybercrime police on Monday. She alleged that she received Instagram messages on May 9 from a person who had been on her friends list for about six months. The sender informed her that an unknown individual had created morphed nude videos and photographs of her and demanded ₹50,000 to avoid circulating them among her friends and family.
Negotiation Attempt
The complainant was instructed to contact the blackmailer to negotiate and reduce the amount to ₹25,000. Suspicious that her Instagram contact and the blackmailer were acting in collusion, she decided to take legal action. After warning the blackmailer that she would initiate legal proceedings, she approached the police. Both individuals have since deactivated their Instagram accounts, the complainant confirmed.
Legal Action
Based on her complaint, a case has been registered under multiple sections: Sections 66(C) and 67A of the Information Technology Act, which deal with identity theft and publishing obscene material electronically, and Sections 78 (stalking), 79 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman), and 308(2) (extortion) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
