LAWS YOU SHOULD KNOW: INDIAN PENAL CODE FOR ONLINE ABUSE
IPC SECTION 354A
This Section punishes – with 3 years imprisonment and/or fine – as ‘Sexual Harassment’ instances where a man makes “a demand or request for sexual favours”, shows “pornography against the will of a woman” or makes “sexually coloured remarks”.
IPC SECTION 354D
This Section punishes – with three years and/or fine on first conviction, and five years and/or fine on second conviction – under ‘Stalking’ any man who “follows a woman and contacts, or attempts to contact such woman to foster personal interaction repeatedly, despite a clear indication of disinterest by such woman.”
IPC SECTION 509
This section provides that any person who utters any word or makes any sound or gesture, intending that such word, sound or gesture be heard or seen by a woman and insult her modesty, shall be punished with one-year imprisonment and/or fine.
For all the nudes that you get asked for or the pictures of male genitalia flooding your inbox, the IT Act comes to your rescue. It punishes transmission of obscene as well as sexually explicit content in electronic form.
IPC SECTION 67A
The following Act carves out a special category of obscene content i.e. material containing a ‘sexually explicit act’. The publication, transmission or causing of transmission or such material is punishable with imprisonment extending up to five years and fine for the first conviction, and up to seven years and fine upon a second conviction.
