Kerala Woman Battles Cyber Harassment: Seeks High Court's Help to Remove Morphed Videos

Kozhikode, Kerala – In a significant move, a woman from Kozhikode has approached the Kerala High Court, seeking urgent directions to remove her alleged morphed videos from the internet. The petitioner, who previously served as a Panchayat Vice-President, claims that political rivals orchestrated the dissemination of these videos to tarnish her reputation and force her resignation.

Justice A. Badharudeen has issued notices to all relevant intermediaries, including Google, Meta, and Yahoo, in response to the petition. The court seeks to make the videos unavailable on search engines and remove any existing content from various platforms.

The woman alleges that political opponents, motivated by rivalry, morphed and leaked her videos. Facing immense pressure from her political adversaries, she resigned from her position. The plea further details a disturbing sequence of events where an acquaintance recorded her videos last year, edited them, and harassed her. Although an FIR was filed and the matter was seemingly settled with assurances that all videos were deleted, the morphed videos resurfaced on her wedding day, showing private parts.

Despite filing complaints, the petitioner claims the police have not taken sufficient action to arrest the accused or remove the videos. She further asserts that these videos have been widely circulated on social media and uploaded to adult websites, resulting in her social media being inundated with obscene messages. Frustrated with the lack of action from authorities, the petitioner personally requested Google, Yahoo, and Meta to remove the videos, but received no response. Consequently, she has sought the court’s intervention to disable access to the content and prevent further dissemination.

The plea is being represented by a team of advocates including Renjith B. Marar, Lekshmi N. Kaimal, P. Rajkumar, Keshavraj Nair, Arun Poomulli, Preetha S. Chandran, Abhijith Sreekumar, Anand Ramesh, Abhiram S., C. R. Rekha, Gaadha Suresh, and Anakha K. Ayril.

Case Details

Case Title: XX v Union of India and Others

Case No: WP(Crl.) 763/2024

As this case progresses, it highlights the urgent need for stringent measures to protect individuals from digital harassment and ensure swift action against those who misuse technology to harm others. The court’s decision will be closely watched, potentially setting a precedent for future cases involving cyber harassment and privacy violations.