The Supreme Court of India on Friday held that threatening a woman to upload a video of her bathing or disrobing on social media amounts to criminal intimidation under Section 506 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). A bench of the apex court, comprising Justices Sanjay Karol and N Kotiswar Singh noted that such threats amount to an attempt to ‘impute unchastity’ to a woman and constitute aggravated criminal intimidation, which is punishable under Part II of Section 506 IPC.

The ruling came as the bench upheld the conviction of a man accused of threatening to upload a private bathing video of a woman on Facebook.

Bench says privacy and dignity cannot be violated

The bench, while hearing the case, underscored that every individual has a reasonable expectation of privacy while bathing or disrobing in a bathroom, and any attempt to publicise such intimate visuals directly violates a woman’s dignity, sexual autonomy and privacy.

It remarked, “We are of the opinion that in the light of the changed perspective of women’s sexuality, the act of filming the victim in a naked state while she was bathing and the threat to upload it on digital social media can be construed to be an act amounting to a threat to impute unchastity.”

Continuing the remarks, the court said that publishing or threatening to publish such content would insult a woman’s sexual character and deeply invade her personal liberty. Its verdict carried the message that even if two individuals were in a relationship, it did not grant either party the right to place private or intimate material in the public domain.

Video recovery not essential to secure conviction

The top court also made another crucial observation during the hearing, clarifying that the non-recovery of the cell phone or video clip in question does not automatically weaken the prosecution’s case. The bench observed that while recovery of the material may strengthen evidence, the law does not mandate it for conviction if there is other credible evidence available on record.

Woman alleges sexual exploitation on pretext of marriage

According to the prosecution, the woman had filed a complaint alleging that the accused violated her on the pretext of marriage. She further accused him of secretly recording a video of her bathing and later threatening her to upload it on social media platforms.

After a probe, the accused was charged with sections pertaining to rape, sexual intercourse induced by deceitful promise of marriage and criminal intimidation. Although the trial court acquitted the accused of the rape-related charged, he was convicted under Part II of Section 506 IPC for aggravated criminal intimidation.