A STUDY OF LEGAL MECHANISM ADDRESSING CYBER CRIME AGAINST WOMEN IN INDIA BY - ADV. NILAM SAMPAT SHEVKARI
A STUDY OF LEGAL MECHANISM ADDRESSING
CYBER CRIME AGAINST WOMEN IN INDIA
AUTHORED BY - ADV. NILAM SAMPAT SHEVKARI
LL.M
MODERN LAW COLLEGE, PUNE
ABSTRACT
The author of this research article seeks to examine how the development
of technology and the consequent ease
of access to the internet and social media platforms play a significant part in
the rise of cybercrimes against women
in Indian culture. The internet users, particularly women, are particularly susceptible to cybercrimes,
or illicit activities performed via the internet. The legal options as remedies for cybercrime against
women are outlined in this article. Furthermore, the numerous reasons of an upsurge in cybercrimes targeting females
and their repercussions on those who are
victimized are emphasised.
KEYWORDS
Cyber,
Crime, Pornography, Morphing,
Stalking, Phishing, etc. INTRODUCTION
Cybercrime may be described as a synthesis of
technology and crime. Cybercrimes are simply,
"any offense or crime that involves the use of a computer."[1]
In addition to the millions of deaths brought on by the pandemic, many
people have experienced hardship as a
result of losing their jobs or having to close their businesses due to
lockdown, as well as families who have lost the sole breadwinner, young children who have lost both parents, and many others. Mobile and
cybercrime spread like a virus as people battled the pandemic and resisted it. Many people used the internet
and phone technologies to harass others as a way to vent their frustration with the lockdown, and many others did so
to pass the time while the epidemic
was going on. Cybercrime on the internet increased quickly and heavily during
the epidemic.
Cybercrime can be defined as “The illegal usage of any communication device
to commit or facilitate in committing
any illegal act”[2]. A cybercrime is explained as a type of
crime that targets or uses a computer
or a group of computers under one network for the purpose of harm. Cybercrimes are committed using computers
and computer networks. They can be targeting
individuals, business groups, or even governments. Investigators tend to use various ways to investigate devices suspected to be used
or to be a target of a cybercrime.
Types of Cyber Crimes Against Women
in India:[3]
The rate of cybercrime against women started
growing at this time since the majority of women were using social networking websites
and various other online resources
for educational, professional, and recreational objectives.
Women are most commonly exposed to the following types of cyber crimes.
Sextortion: It was the cybercrime committed against women the most
frequently during the epidemic. The
offenders began extorting money or sexual favours from their victims by using their private photos or altered images as
a form of blackmail. The offenders threatened women and demanded that they engage in sexual videoconferencing or
write messages to them as a way of venting their annoyance over the epidemic.
Phishing:
To make money during the lockdown, criminals
send fake e-mails with a link to a particular
webpage in an effort to coerce the victim into entering personal information
like contact details and passwords
or with the purpose of infecting the victim's device
with dangerous viruses
as soon as the link is clicked.
These texts and emails appear
to be authentic. The attackers
then carry out shady transactions from the victim's bank account to
their own using the victim's bank account and other private information.
Google
under phishing attack (2017): Users of
the Google email service “Gmail” allegedly received a legal notice from the Gmail team asking them to update their account
name, password, occupation,
birth date, and country of residence within seven days of receiving the warning, with the warning that if they did
not update their details within seven days of receiving the warning, their account would be permanently lost. However, a Google official
denied receiving any such legal letter, claiming
that personal information was obtained through
a phishing attack known as spoofing or password
phishing.
Revenge Pornography
Revenge porn
could be specified as:
An act where the perpetrator expressed his
resentment and frustration over an unsuccessful relationship by exhibiting a false, sexually
obnoxious painting of the victim without using
information that he might have known naturally and that he might have
stored in his own system, information
that might have been passed to his electronic equipment by the victim herself, information that might have been stored in
equipment with the consent of the victim herself, and that might essentially has been
completed considering publicly defaming sufferer.
Suffering through way belonging to
retaliation porn have become general phenomenon into India these days. It understanding which by
the time retaliation porn importantly develops sexual violence towards women upon internet,
it mandatory includes
hacking, voyeurism, stalking
(there is none of the particular law considering regulating retaliation
porn. However, it might be assimilated
through along of Section 354C[4]
belonging to IPC (voyeurism), 66E belonging to IT Act (privacy violation) along with also Section number 509 belonging to IPC (punishment considering harming advancement particularly women) however it mandatory destroys
the advancement that of women.
State v. Jayanta Kumar Das (G.R. Case No.1739/2012)[5]
The complainant alleged that a fake profile was created
in his wife's name in a pornographic website
where derogatory and obscene comments were posted. Similarly, the complainant's mobile phone number was also uploaded on the said website which
led to receipt of number of unsolicited
calls and objectionable requests. The complainant had alleged that the accused
was behind such acts because he had reported the
accused RTI Activist's activities in newspapers.
Investigations revealed that fake e-mail
account in the name of complainant and a fake profile in his wife's name had indeed been created by the accused, Das. The
probe also revealed that accused was
named in at least six criminal cases and charge sheets were also submitted by
police in such cases. He was
arrested and remanded in custody for about a month. The court considered the evidence produced for charges of
forgery, identity theft and cyber pornography and convicted Das.
Cyber stalking[6]:
It is a form of cyber stalking, which is
essentially the behaviour of a group of people, a group of businesses, or an individual employing
technology that has been made available and leaked information to harass
one or more people.
As a consequence, these behaviours may
include sharing the risk, making untrue accusations, identity theft, data theft, equipment damage, internet
monitoring, enticing minors for sex, and confrontation. However,
it is not just confined to this.
According to
the Section 354D[7], IPC there were two stages of cyber stalking which were included. The provision states, Each and every man who founds
involved in following a woman or
tries to contacts her or even stalks her, than in such case a woman is accepted
to nourish personal interaction again
and again or interferes with the mental peace of such woman, commits the offence of stalking.
During the year 2020, Pune-based Archeology student
Divya Sharma noticed that a random Instagram
user liked nearly 200 of her photos. She took the incident lightly, until the
boy started making inappropriate
remarks and then the boy started sending her direct messages. That’s when Divya filed an online complaint with the
cyber police, which resulted in the abuser’s account being suspended and the abuser being punished. She believes
that, “no one has the right to threaten you in DMs or comments.”
The cyberstalker could be charged
under Section 509 of the IPC for invading a woman’s modesty,
as well as the Information Technology Act of
2000.
Cyber hacking:
During the pandemic, people started reading
the news online. There are more examples of false news and information now than ever before. After clicking on
malicious URLs, the women were the
victims of cyber hacking. The malware downloaded all of their personal
information to their phones, turned
on the microphone and camera, and took their intimate photos and videos. Then, criminals
use these bits of information and pictures to carry out extortion and other offenses.[8]
Kumar v. Whiteley
The accused, i.e Kumar gained
unauthorised access to the Joint Academic Network
(JANET) and deleted, added
files, and changed the passwords to deny access to the authorised users which led to
a loss of Rs 38,248 to the users.
The Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate
of Chennai sentenced N G Arun Kumar, the accused to undergo rigorous
imprisonment for one year with a fine of Rs 5,000 under Section 420 IPC
(cheating) and Section 66 of the IT Act
(Computer related Offense).
Cyber-bullying:
This includes, sending rape and death threats to the
victim and posting false, misleading, and abusive
statements about the victims on social media sites, and demanding money to have
them removed. It also includes leaving hurtful comments on the victim's
posts[9].
Legal Provisions Dealing With Cyber
Crimes In India
Despite the lack of a comprehensive regulatory framework
for laws governing the cyber realm, including
such conduct, particular legal remedies pursuant to various statutes may assist
victims of cyber violence.
The Indian
Penal Code 1860
Prior to 2013, there was no law specifically
addressing online abuse or crimes against women in cyberspace. Section 354A of the 2013 Criminal Amendment Act
amends the Indian Penal Code, 1860 by adding Sections 354A to 354D.
Section
354A: A man who commits any of the
following events – a demand or plea for sexual
services; or displaying pornography against a woman’s will; or making sexual remarks
– commits sexual harassment
and may be penalized with stringent imprisonment for a period up to 3 years, or with a fine, or with both. In
the instance of the first two, and with a period of imprisonment for a period
of up to one year, or by a fine, or with the both.
Section
354C: It defines ‘voyeurism’ as the act
of photographing and/or publishing a picture of a woman engaged in a private act without her consent. To qualify
as ‘Voyeurism,’ the conditions must
be such that the lady would “typically expect not to be seen, either by the offender or by any person acting
at the perpetrator’s direction.” A person convicted underneath this section
faces a fine and up to three years in prison on the first conviction and
7 years on successive convictions.
Section 354D: Added
a stalking prohibition that includes online stalking. Stalking is described as an act in which a male pursues or
contacts a woman despite the woman’s evident disinterest in such
contact, or watches
a woman’s cyber
activity or usage
of the Web or electronic communication. A man
convicted of stalking faces up to three years in prison and a fine for the first offence,
and up to five years in prison and a fine for
successive convictions.
Besides the specific amendments to the Code,
there are a number of other provisions that provide for the reporting of cyber attacks
and the prosecution of those who are responsible.. These include the following:-
Section 499: To slander, someone
is to commit an act with the goal of slandering their reputation. When committed with the intent to injure the woman’s
reputation, defamation through the publishing of immediate and
clear representation of imputation is punished with imprisonment for a period
not exceeding two years, a fine, or
both.
Section
503: Threats to harm a person’s
reputation, either to cause her panic or to compel her to modify her course of conduct about
whatever she would normally do/not do, constitute criminal intimidation. The act of cyber-blackmailing a person, as was done in the aforementioned example,
can be placed within the
range of this law.
Section
507: This section establishes the
maximum penalty for Criminal Intimidation committed by an individual whose identity is unknown to the victim. Any
anonymous communication that constitutes
criminal intimidation in violation of the preceding Section 503 is penalized
under this section.
Section
509: Any individual who utters a word,
makes a sound or gesture, or displays an object with the intent that such word, sound, gesture, or object is
heard or seen by a female and insults her
modesty, or intrudes on her privacy, may be charged underneath this section and
sentenced to up to three years in
prison and a fine. This section may penalize instances of sexual remarks or comments made over the Net, as well as
other explicit photos and content that are forcibly transmitted over the web.
The Information Technology Act 2000
Section
66C- Identity
theft is a punished offense under Section 66C of the IT Act. This clause would apply to instances of cyber hacking.
Under this provision, anyone who uses another
person’s electronic signature, password, or other unique identifying feature fraudulently or dishonestly faces up to three years in prison and a
fine of up to Rs. one lakh.
Section
66E- Deals with a person’s right to privacy
being violated. Capturing, publishing, or sending
an image of a person’s private area without her agreement, or in circumstances
that violate her privacy, is penalized by
up to three years in prison and/or a fine.
Section
67- Makes it illegal to publish,
transmit, or cause the distribution of obscene content and punishes violators with up to three
years in prison and a fine on the first conviction and up to five years
in prison and a fine on the second conviction.
Section
67A- Makes the publishing, transmission,
or facilitating the transfer of sexually explicit content a misdemeanour punishable by up to five years in jail
and a fine on the first offence, and up to seven years in prison and a fine on
the second conviction.
Emerging Cyber
Crime against women
in India:
India was catching up with legal response to online
activities and infractions when it came up with
its first cyber legislation namely, the IT Act, 2000. The Act has been amended
in 2008, enforced in 2009 and has responded well to the menace of cyber
crime in the country.
The situation currently is more troubling.
Internet trolls primarily target women on social media platforms and chat apps like
WhatsApp and Instagram. Some of these
women's sexual appeal and degree of ability
to sexually and attractively offer men were described by trolls in foul language.
It is important to recognize
that as information communication technology has progressed,
traditional physical space crimes like rape, sexual molestation, blackmail, stalking, and other similar offences have taken on a
new significance. In both the physical world and the virtual world, privacy is actually dwindling. Women are the
group that suffers most in this respect.
Some common forms
of cyber crime in India recently in practice includes:
1.
Offensive speech and expressions on internet targeting
women:
In India, Right to speech and expression is
not unlimited. Art.19(1)(a)[10] guaranteeing right to speech and expressions has been expanded
over time by courts in India within the meaning of eight limitations that are specified in art.19(2) and the latest
judgment in Shreya Singhal case where the Supreme court held that a vague law such as S.66A[11]
of the IT Act, 2000 which did not
explain the grounds of restrictions of speech cannot stand in a way of
exercising right to speech and expression especially in case of internet
speech. As such court specified the criteria
by which the speech and expression can be illegal.
Shreya Singhal
v. Union of India[12], Supreme Court focused upon criteria right for
information by free speech, however
on part equally big interim was fully ignored. This kind of interim was regarding suffering of women upon internet
along with by internet. Suffering of given kind is being made out by misapply of right for expression, speech upon
internet. This kind of misuse considering
rights, expressions upon internet could turn severely dangerous considering
women specifically since internet
nature through medium knowledge, that is varied extracted traditional nature print media. In Shreya Singhal's
episode additional Solicitor General India discussing considering manifesting relaxed level belonging restriction
reasonableness figured out given different internet attributes.
2.
Trolling and Gender
bullying:
The most under-researched issues in the arena of cyber
crime against women in India are gender bullying
and trolling on the internet.[13]
We know the online bullying has attracted much attention of researchers, especially in relation to school children,
adolescent children and so on. Even though
suicide due to cyber bullying has been found as a common ultimate risk factor
even when both the bully and
his/her victim are children it may be presumed that adults may be more dangerous bullies due to their maturity
and exposure to the world as compared with children. Trolling creates hate
crimes and brutally destroys the
reputation of women.
3.
Online grooming:
In general, grooming
refers to broadening one's perspective, improving
one's lifestyle, and preparing one for a specific role, image, or future education.
Online grooming, however, is one of
the most serious offences when it comes to grooming in the digital age. It
either directly or tangentially fuels criminal activity aimed at specifically targeting women online.[14]
The online 'motivators' performs very
dangerous roles. It results in increasing the more crime rates and harms more to
the victims.
There are various tactics which are being
used by the groomers for finding an appropriate groom who can easily befool the victim and commits the offense easily.
Most often while reporting crimes
against a woman victim must not only mention about the groomers' role, but also
directly speak about the harassment.
Methods, Platforms and Definition
of Online Grooming:
Online grooming is basically a process in which two
different individuals comes into the contact
with each other over the online network. They do not even know each
other in real life or they have never
met each other. A virtual relation is created between the both. The online
grooming aims at targeting the female
by doing some sex text, taking nude pictures, using web-cam for recording
the video talk forcing the victim to share nude pictures,
clips etc.
According to the other report published in
NDTV news, a racket running fearlessly on internet had been identified by the police. In which they make the use of
the matrimonial sites to grab the brides
and make fake promises only to cheat them financially[15].
Most of the fraudsters befool the girls by pretending
themselves as NRIs. Even the report states that
they use the fake SIM cards using the foreign number. The report highlighted it
with an example of a person who predicts
himself as a doctor in front of the victim and also said that he is working in foreign. Therefore, he wins the trust of the victim
by being in continuous touch with the victim in the form of
communication. The best technique to won over the victim was sending the gifts on different occasions
to her address. Later, a huge amount is being asked from her for getting the good packages. Then, after the report done
by the victim put the police in the situation
to tighten their shoes and found the fraudsters who were involved in this
activity and they found that it's in trend to befool innocent
female and make their possible use.
Ranjit D. Udeshi
v. State of Maharashtra
(Hicklin Test Adoption)[16]
In given case, Section 292 which IPC was being questioned as though erratic
considering fundamental
right in order to freedom of speech, expression beneath Article 19 considering Constitution of India. Here, Court adhered
Hicklin test for upholding its constitutionality since law forcing reasonable obstruction upon right for freedom of
speech, expression upon morality and
decency grounds, as allowable beneath clause (2) belonging to Article-19. This
main clause, in truth, makes over greater fundamental law oppose vulgarity into India.
CONCLUSION:
Social networking, online shopping, storing data, online studying, every
possible thing that man can think of
can be done through the medium of internet. Internet is used in almost every
sphere. Now, as man have encountered
the dark side of internet; therefore to counter the possible ill- effects it is required to have proper
knowledge, awareness, law, agency and adequate use of technology. Before 2013, there was
no legislation that specifically addressed cyber bullying or crimes against women committed online. To address the matter,
Sections 354A to 354D had been added
to the Indian Penal Code, 1860. The legal system has implemented a number of
laws to combat cybercrime against
women as a way to halt the advancement of technology through illicit and unethical means. The
government should take steps to report fraudulent websites to the National Cybercrime Reporting
Portal.
[3] Amita Verma, Cyber Crimes and Law
(Central Law House
Publication, Allahabad 1st edn., 2009)
[4] Ibid
[5] https://ijoslca.files.wordpress.com/2020/07/state-of-odisha-v.-jayanta-kumar-das-by-aditi-palit-chandrika-dutta.pdf
[7] Indian
Penal Code 1860
[8] Atul Jain, Cyber
Crime- Issues, Threats
and Management (Chawla
Offset Press, Delhi 1005)