The Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) Cyber Crime Reporting Circle (CCRC) on Saturday announced the arrest of a man and his sister for their involvement in harassing a teenager with her indecent photos and videos.
An FIA official said that the CCRC, Karachi had arrested Syed Aadrish Bukhari and his sister, adding that the man was the teenager’s former husband, who with the active connivance of his sister, had been involved in defaming, harassing and blackmailing the victim by circulating her indecent photos and videos on social media.
Giving the brief facts of the case, the official said that Enquiry No. 594/2021 was registered at the Cyber Crime Circle, Karachi police station on the complaint of the victim’s father against Bukhari and his sister on the allegations of sending the teenager’s indecent photos and videos to her family members through Facebook and WhatsApp.
According to the details, the teenager’s home town is Shikarpur. After her matriculation, she was married off to Bukhari on December 22, 2020. She then became a resident of Malir Bahria Town in Karachi.
Her husband and in-laws subjected her to sarcastic and abusive behaviour They used to torture her mentally on a daily basis. Since February 2021, her husband forced her many times into taking photos and recording videos that were indecent. On refusal, the man used to beat her and threaten her with divorce.
Due to the pressure, she did what he said. However, a few weeks ago she finally left him with the help of her family.
Reacting to her decision, the man started harassing her by sending her photos and videos to her family members and other relatives.
The man’s elder sister using her own number also sent the teenager’s photos to the victim as well as her family members, other relatives and family friends.
During the course of enquiry, the subscriber information of the mobile number used to send the photos to the victim was obtained, which showed that the mobile number belonged to the teenager’s sister-in-law.
Further enquiry found that a Facebook account had been created under the name of the teenager, and through the profile her indecent photos and videos were sent to her family members and other relatives.
After the approval of the competent authority, a team was formed to carry out a raid on the premises of the nominated persons in Malir Bahria Town, and after proper entry at the police station. The team was properly introduced and the nominated persons were told about the purpose of the raid as well.
The following devices were seized from the possession of the nominated persons: an iPhone 8, a Vivo smart phone, an iPhone 7 and an HP laptop.
On the initial technical examination of the devices, indecent content along with traces of circulating indecent photos and videos of the teenager were found on the phones.
For further examination, the nominated persons along with their phones were taken to the police station. The seized digital devices of the nominated persons were handed over to the assigned technical officer for an initial technical report.
After the receipt of the initial technical report, it was established that the nominated persons were involved in the crimes of blackmailing, harassing and harming the modesty of the teenager via the Vivo S1 phone configured with two WhatsApp accounts.
The mobile number was used for sending the teenager’s indecent photos to her sister-in-law’s WhatsApp, and indecent videos were found on the same phone. The fake Facebook account was found active on the iPhone 7 and used to send the teenager’s indecent photos to one Mohsin.
The fake Facebook account was also found active on the sister-in-law’s iPhone 8 and used to send the teenager’s indecent photos and videos to various people, while the teenager’s indecent photos and videos were also sent from the sister-in-law’s WhatsApp number to different numbers.
In view of the above-mentioned facts, circumstances and evidences, the FIA has concluded that Bukhari and his sister have committed offences punishable under sections 16, 20, 21(2) and 24 of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016, read with Section 109 of the Pakistan Penal Code, for which criminal prosecution has to be initiated against them.
An FIR has been registered and both the nominated persons have been arrested, while they have also been produced before a court of law for their remand, with further investigation under way.
Source: The News
