Chandigarh, Nov 23 (IANS): The District and Sessions Court in Mohali in Punjab sentenced a Ludhiana man to three years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 for sharing child pornographic content through Facebook Messenger.

The accused, Anuj Kumar, is a resident of Sahnewal in Ludhiana district.

As per information, the Cyber Crime Prevention against Women and Children unit of the Punjab State Cyber Crime Cell had found the suspect had transmitted a video clip of the child pornography through Facebook Messenger on November 27, 2020.

Following this, an first information report dated September 18, 2021, was registered under Section 67-B of the IT Act at Police Station State Cyber Crime for uploading and transmitting the content.

During the investigation, technical details, including IP addresses, were sought from various internet service providers and social media platforms, which led to tracing the identity of the accused.

The accused was arrested on January 13, 2022, and the mobile phone used to commit the offence was recovered from his possession.

DIG (Cyber Crime) Nilambari Jagadale said publishing or transmitting material in any electronic form which depicts children engaged in sexually explicit act or conduct or creates text or digital images, collects, seeks, browses, downloads, advertises, promotes, exchanges or distributes material in any electronic form depicting children in obscene or indecent or sexually explicit manner is a punishable act with the provision of up to five years imprisonment and a fine which may extend to Rs 10 lakh.

She also exhorted parents to talk openly to their children about their online activities, allow children to use screens and devices under their supervision, keep check on children’s online friends and teach them to keep their location private.