Man gets six-year jail term for leaking woman's private images, videos

• Suspect leaked images to woman’s fiancé, family.
• Forensic evidence proved WhatsApp image leak.
• Prosecution established blackmail and coercion.

KARACHI: A court has sentenced a man to a total of six years in prison for sharing indecent videos and images of a woman with her fiancé and family members on WhatsApp in 2021, The News reported.

Judicial Magistrate (East) Yusra Ashfaq found Muhammad Anas guilty under sections 20 (offences against the dignity of a natural person), 21 (offences against modesty of a natural person and minor), and 24 (cyberstalking) of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016.

The court sentenced him to two years’ imprisonment for each offence and imposed a fine of Rs90,000 or undergo additional 60-day imprisonment.

"The prosecution successfully established the accused's culpability through a combination of witness testimonies and forensic evidence, which demonstrated the transmission of obscene material from the accused's device to multiple recipients," the magistrate observed.

Explaining the motive, she said that the primary motive behind the accused's actions appeared to be rooted in exploiting the woman’s trust and personal relationship to coerce and blackmail her.

She noted that the victim had testified that she had been in a relationship with the accused for several years, during which she voluntarily shared private images and videos with him. 

However, she added, the accused later weaponised this material by transmitting it to her fiancé and family members, violating her privacy and dignity.

"This act of distribution suggests an intent to harm the complainant emotionally and socially, possibly as a means of revenge or control, following the breakdown of their relationship," the magistrate said.

"The evidence presented, including the complainant's testimony and forensic analysis, underscores this motive." According to Federal Investigation Agency prosecutor Sheraz Rajpar, the woman lodged a complaint with the agency's Cyber Crime Reporting Circle, stating that she had been in a relationship with accused Anas for three to four years. 

She said that the accused offered to marry her but never formally sent a marriage proposal to her parents. After her engagement to another person, accused Anas shared her indecent images and videos with her fiancé, sister and aunt on WhatsApp in 2021, the woman alleged.

The prosecutor argued that prosecution had succeeded in establishing its case against the accused beyond reasonable doubt, and that no inconsistency had been found in the testimonies of prosecution witnesses. 

He added that the forensic examination of a mobile phone seized from the accused corroborated the ocular version of the victim and witnesses.

During the trial, the victim testified that Anas had coerced her into sending him her obscene photos and later blackmailed her to send him more images and videos. 

She said that after her family fixed her engagement to someone else, he sent those photos and videos to her fiancé and family members through WhatsApp.

In his statement, the accused claimed innocence saying that he was in relationship with the complainant prior to the incident. 

He claimed that the woman lodged a complaint against him after his family rejected her marriage proposal.