“Terrifying & Dehumanizing Violation”: Punjab & Haryana HC Denies Bail To Woman In Cyber Sextortion Case
The Punjab and Haryana High Court held that granting bail in this “well-orchestrated conspiracy of sextortion” would “greatly harm” the investigation.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court denied a regular bail to a woman accused in a cyber sextortion case while accounting the “terrifying and dehumanizing violation” of secretly recording explicit activity over video for blackmailing.
The Court dismissed a Petition filed under Section 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS) by a woman accused of extorting over crores of money from a 73-year-old doctor (complainant) through blackmailing. As per the FIR, it was alleged that the accused had recorded an obscene and nude video of the complainant and, thereafter, extorted money from him.
A Single Bench of Justice Sandeep Moudgil observed, “Such acts are currently the highest reported form of image-based sexual abuse, a form of online blackmail which has been growing in prevalence since 2021. What is concerning are the recent incidents of sextortion which are not entirely surprising given the increase in online social interactions during lockdowns, particularly by way of online dating. The predators deceive and manipulate the gullible person mostly teenagers by engaging them in explicit activity over video, secretly record it, and threaten to post such clips online if the victim does not make up to their financial demands. This terrifying and dehumanizing violation feeds on victim’s shame.”
Advocate Munfaid Khan represented the Petitioner, while DAG Chetan Sharma appeared for the Respondent.
Brief Facts
The complainant alleged that after the video call, he was subsequently contacted by a man in a police uniform, purporting to be a senior officer of CBI, who scared the complainant that the woman in the video had committed suicide. The complainant was allegedly threatened that his nude video would be made viral on YouTube and other social media platforms if he did not pay.
An FIR was registered against the accused under Sections 204, 308(2), 306(6), 318(4), 319 and 61 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
Court’s Reasoning
The High Court noted, “There are evidence of threatening and blackmailing the complainant on WhatsApp and in the chain of investigation, a sum of Rs.6 lakhs from the money extorted from the complainant…has been recovered from the house of the petitioner in Jaipur.”
The Court observed that cyber sextortion cases have been increasing which involve the manipulation of “gullible people mostly teenagers” by engaging them in “explicit activity over video, secretly record it, and threaten to post such clips online if the victim does not make up to their financial demands.”
“The emotional results for victims — especially kids — is devastating. Feeling embarrassed, hopeless and isolated, many of victims have nowhere to turn and some even go so far as to take their own lives without knowing that help is available,” it observed.
“It is disquieting to learn the implications of arming the petitioner with the regular bail, who has been confronted with allegations of this nature involving well-orchestrated conspiracy of sextortion, which would undoubtedly greatly harm the investigation and would impede the prospects of unearthing all the ramifications involved in such online fraud and scam. Indeed, the public interest also would suffer as a consequence,” the Bench remarked.
The Court also remarked, “Umpteen number of cases with similar fact patterns have been reported on the National Cyber Reporting Portal, where unsuspecting individuals have fallen victim to such criminals like the accused persons using an identical modus operandi. This suggests that the present case is part of a larger pattern of criminal activity, rather than an isolated incident.”
Accordingly, the High Court dismissed the Petition.
Cause Title: Jaibuna @ Jai Bhuna v. State of Haryana (Neutral Citation: 2025:PHHC:011396)
