New Delhi: The Delhi Police’s cyber crime cell has arrested three men from Delhi and one from Gujarat in connection with a First Information Report filed by journalist Barkha Dutt for harassment on social media and via calls and text messages.
In the FIR that Dutt had registered on February 21, she stated, “I appear to have been made a victim of some fake news propaganda and my number has been shared on all social media platforms. I have been sent nude pictures and sexually abusive text messages. I fear for my well-being, security and life as this is a coordinated assault by a violent mob.”
The FIR was registered under IPC sections 354-D (stalking), 506 (threatening), 507 (criminal intimidation) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy), and sections 67 and 67-A (publishing or transmitting of material containing sexually explicit act) of the IT Act.
A senior officer told the Indian Express that the police had arrested four men identified as Rajiv Sharma (23), Hemraj Kumar (31) and Aditya Kumar (34) from Delhi and Shabbir Gurfan Pinjari (45), a resident of Surat.
The investigation also revealed that Sharma, Hemraj Kumar and Aditya Kumar were booked for sending objectionable text messages and have been granted bail. Pinjari was booked for sending an obscene photograph and has been remanded in judicial custody for 14 days.
During the interrogation, one of the accused said that they had found Dutt’s number online on social media where someone had shared it claiming it was for “escort services.”
Responding to news of the arrest, Dutt said that she had “listed ten more numbers” in her FIR.
Four men arrested by Delhi Police cyber cell for stalking me, sexually abusing me, sending me nude/D#ck pictures and in one case threatening to kill me. However this is not over. I have listed ten more numbers in my FIR and before a magistrate. Will follow till each one jailed
— barkha dutt (@BDUTT) March 20, 2019
The National Commission for Women (NCW) had written to the Delhi Police commissioner Amulya Patnaik to initiate “speedy investigation” into the alleged harassment of journalist Barkha Dutt on social media after she offered to help Kashmiris who were being targeted in the wake of the Pulwama attack.
Also Read: Online Trolling of Indian Women Is Only an Extension of the Everyday Harassment They Face
In a series of tweets, Dutt disclosed several phone numbers from which she received abusive calls or messages and stated that she had received close to 1,000 abusive messages and calls.
just an update, I have continued to get hundreds of abuses, sexually violent messages and threats to my life for a second day running. I urgently ask @DelhiPolice @MPpoliceonline @PoliceRajasthan @PunjabPoliceInd to intervene. FIR with Delhi Police
— barkha dutt (@BDUTT) February 19, 2019