The latest evil is revenge porn says Chennai court

Chennai, Nov 18: Revenge porn is the latest social evil, a Chennai court said. A boy video graphing intimate moments with their partners and later using them to threaten and exploit them continuously are part of the latest social evil a city court said.

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. The prosecution said that the accused M Suresh, first came to know the survivor in 2014, when he visited the factory in Ambattur where she worked.

Suresh had visited the factory to collect details of the workers to open a bank account as he was working as a representative of a private bank. After acquiring the phone number of the woman, Suresh began harassing her and forced her to talk with him.

The prosecution said that if the survivor did not talk to him, he threatened that he would consume poison and also said that he would harm him. Giving in to his threats, the woman went to his house. She forcibly had sex with him, the prosecution said.

He then demanded that she visit his house often and if she refused he threatened to release the video of their intimate moments the internet and also show the same to her family.

The woman attempted to commit suicide after realising she was pregnant, but was saved by her uncle. After the uncle understood her ordeal a complaint was lodged. The accused however argued that the case was foisted and that the relationship was consensual.

After perusing the evidence on record, the judge, M Rajalakshmi held the accused guilty of rape under the provisions of Indian Penal Code 376. The judge also held the accused guilty for criminal intimidation as he had threatened to release the video of their private moments.