19-year-old foils blackmail attempt over morphed nude video, approaches cops

Hyderabad: A 19-year-old student, instead of succumbing to the threats of blackmailers who demanded ₹50,000 to prevent the circulation of her morphed nude video on social media, approached the police. As soon as she informed them that she had approached the police, the accused deactivated their accounts. Based on the student’s complaint, the police have registered a criminal case against them.

The complainant, a first-year undergraduate student, approached the Hyderabad cybercrime police on Monday, alleging that she had received Instagram messages on May 9 from a person who had been on her friends list for about six months. He told the complainant that an unknown person had created morphed nude videos and photographs of her and demanded ₹50,000 to avoid circulating them among her friends and family.

The complainant was asked to contact the blackmailer to negotiate and reduce the amount to ₹25,000. Suspecting that her Instagram contact and the blackmailer were acting in collusion, the complainant approached the police after warning the blackmailer that she would initiate legal action against them.

“Both of them have deactivated their Instagram accounts now,” the complainant said.

Based on her complaint, a case was registered under Sections 66(C) and 67A of the IT Act, and Sections 78 (stalking), 79 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman), and 308(2) (extortion) of the BNS.