Obscene Materials and Sexual Harassment

The law punishes different kinds of crimes if obscene material is shared or you face sexual harassment online:

Publishes or distributes obscene material online

If someone publishes or distributes obscene material online, it is considered a crime. For example, if someone publishes pictures of a naked woman. This is punishable¹ with jail time of up to three years and a fine of up to five lakhs on first conviction, and jail time of up to five years and a fine of up to ten lakhs upon any subsequent conviction.

Publishes or distributes materials that display sexually explicit acts

Further, if someone publishes or distributes materials that display sexually explicit acts, it is also considered a crime. For example, if someone publishes a video of two people engaging in sexual intercourse without their permission, he may be punished under the law. This is punishable² with jail time of up to five years and a fine of up to ten lakhs on first conviction, and jail time of up to seven years and a fine of up to ten lakhs upon any subsequent conviction.

Showing Pornographic Material

Showing pornographic material to a woman when she does not want to watch it is considered sexual harassment, and is a crime under the law.³ The punishment for this is jail time of up to three years or a fine or both.

1.   Section 67, The Information Technology Act, 2000.[↩]
2. Section 67A, The Information Technology Act, 2000.[↩]
3. Section 354A, The Indian Penal Code, 1860.[↩]