Kolkata: Bivas Chatterjee, the 43-year-old, Public Prosecutor of West Bengal for cybercrime and electronic evidence case, who helped the revenge porn victim from Midnapur get justice, engages in a candid conversation with eNewsroom.
eN: Tell us about the case?
BC: It was a difficult case. Let me be clear, most of the cybercrime cases are difficult to handle. It needs a hell lot of hard work to dig out electronic evidence to prove the accused guilty. And this case was no different. However, adding to the complexity of the case was the social stigma associated with such cybercrimes committed, with the sole agenda of seeking revenge.
In this case, we had to counsel the girl to share the minutest detail with us, so that we could morally and legally motivate her be strong enough to withstand the cross-examination by the defence counsel. You, see here the girl’s trust had been breached by the boy to gain access to the private images and videos of the girl with the sole agenda of teaching the girl a lesson for turning down his request of going on a vacation with him.
eN: Could you elaborate on the mental condition of the girl?
BC: She was in a vulnerable condition. Though her parents had lodged the complaint at the police station, not many were buying her story – that the boy had stolen the explicit contents from her phone. She was facing a lot of social stigmas because the boy had not just uploaded her photographs on a pornographic site but had also revealed the identity of the girl and her father. The news of her video was circulating on adult sites was broken to her by her brother. So, the girl was under immense stress. I along with my team had to spend six long months to help this girl justice.
eN: As a lawyer, how difficult is it to handle a case of revenge porn?
BC: The fact that this verdict is the first conviction for revenge porn in West Bengal indicates that handling such cases is not easy. Most of the time the victims don’t come forward to even lodge a complaint. You see, unlike rape or other crime committed against a woman, here everything is online, the URLs are live, people still watch it. So it’s difficult for the victim to come forward and fight for justice.
I am glad that the accused has been convicted for five years. He also has to pay a compensation of around Rs 9000. But the path was not that easy you see. I had to collect a lot of electronic evidence to get justice in this case. CID did an excellent investigation in this case. During the hearings, I submitted about 200 documents before the court to prove my arguments. I also shared nearly 300 judgements pronounced in such cases, not just in India but globally.
Also, as the case proceeded, the girl’s confidence grew and she didn’t even break down during the most rigorous cross-examining done by the defence lawyer. I think this verdict will definitely be deterrent for men with the slightest inclination towards resorting to revenge porn.
eN: What did you tell her that made her evolve stronger?
BC: Revenge porn is a global phenomenon, despite it being relatively new in India. But it’s on the rise. And only 2 percent of these cases are generally reported. Every time that we counselled her, we made it a point to mention that she was not just fighting the case for herself, but for many others, who have been exploited in a similar way. This in a way gave immense strength to her and she evolved really strong.
eN: How to deal with this menace?
BC: It’s simple – play safe. I see no reason to click intimate moments or nude pictures of oneself in private. Everything today is cloud-based. Anyone who gains access to your email linked with the cloud storage will have access to all your data. So, what you might think is available to you only can be accessed by anyone who can hack your email or phone.
Girls, need to be careful. In most of the case, when they are in a relationship, they should be careful about what they share or click. In most of the cases, boys often on rejection or when things go sour resort to revenge porn. It’s a situation like – better be safe than sorry.
eN: What should one do, if he comes across such videos?
BC: Sixty-seventy percent of the virtual data is porn. There is a huge demand for such videos. We need to understand that in India circulation of content that threatens the modesty of a woman is a punishable offence. I encourage everyone to raise an alarm, lodge a complaint if they come across revenge porn or rape videos. Any responsible citizen can lodge a complaint, even journalist while doing any investigative stories related to revenge porn or rape videos can approach the judiciary.
