Online sexual harassment complaint in India: legal steps

By Advocate Panchanand Shaw, Bar Council of West Bengal · Published 3 Nov 2026 · Cyber crime

To file an online sexual harassment complaint in India, preserve the offending messages without forwarding them, report the account to the platform for removal, and lodge a complaint at cybercrime.gov.in and the jurisdictional police station. The provisions that usually apply are sections 67, 67A and 67B of the IT Act, 2000 and sections 77, 79 and 351 of the BNS, 2023, with POCSO, 2012 where the victim is a child.

Online sexual harassment covers a range of conduct: sexually explicit messages, unsolicited images, repeated sexual comments, sexually coloured remarks on posts, morphed photographs, threats to circulate intimate images, and the sharing of private images without consent. In India the response is criminal rather than merely disciplinary. The provisions that usually apply are sections 67, 67A and 67B of the Information Technology Act, 2000 for publishing or transmitting obscene, sexually explicit and child sexual material, section 72 of the same Act where a service provider disclosed private information unlawfully, and sections 77, 79 and 351 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 for voyeurism, words or acts insulting a woman's modesty, and criminal intimidation. Where the victim is under eighteen, the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 applies.

Speed matters more here than in most cyber complaints, because the harm grows as material circulates. Two things decide most cases: whether the offending material is taken down quickly, and whether the evidence is preserved in a way that a court can accept. You can file a complaint without knowing who the offender is, because an unknown person can be described as such in the first information and the identity can be added later once platform and telecom records are obtained. You do not need to prove who did it before you report it.

What counts as online sexual harassment

Harassment does not have to involve images. Conduct that Indian law treats seriously includes the following.

Sexually explicit messages, comments or voice notes sent without consent, and repeated after you ask the person to stop.
Unsolicited obscene or sexually explicit photographs or videos.
Sexually coloured remarks, comments or tags on your posts or profile.
Morphed or edited photographs of you, or photographs used to demean you.
Sharing or threatening to share your private or intimate images without consent.
Sexual demands made in exchange for something, or as a condition to stop contacting you.
Publication of your private information alongside sexual content, to expose you to further harassment.

What the law says

The Information Technology Act, 2000 carries the main offences because the conduct happens through a computer resource. Section 67 punishes publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form, section 67A punishes publishing or transmitting sexually explicit material, and section 67B punishes publishing, transmitting or collecting material depicting children in a sexually explicit act. These sections apply to the sender and to anyone who further circulates the material, which is why forwarding an image even once can create a fresh offence.

What happened	Provision that applies
Obscene material sent or published online	IT Act, 2000, section 67
Sexually explicit material sent or published online	IT Act, 2000, section 67A
Child sexual material published, transmitted or stored	IT Act, 2000, section 67B; POCSO, 2012
Unlawful disclosure of your private information by a service provider	IT Act, 2000, section 72
Watching, capturing or sharing a woman's private images	BNS, 2023, section 77
Words, gestures or acts insulting a woman's modesty	BNS, 2023, section 79
Threats used to force compliance or silence	BNS, 2023, section 351
Misuse of your identity or credentials to send such material	IT Act, 2000, sections 66C and 66D
Platform kept the material up after notice	IT Act, 2000, section 79 with the IT Rules, 2021

The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 supplies the provisions that fit the manner of the harassment rather than the medium. Section 77 covers voyeurism, including capturing or sharing a woman's private images, and section 79 covers words, gestures or acts intended to insult the modesty of a woman. Where the person threatens you to force you to comply or to keep quiet, section 351 on criminal intimidation applies. Where your account or credentials were misused to send the material from your own profile, sections 66C and 66D of the IT Act are added. Under section 79 of the IT Act read with the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, a platform is expected to act once it has actual knowledge of unlawful content, so a written platform report is both a practical step and a legal one.

Step-by-step: how to file an online sexual harassment complaint

Do not engage and do not pay. If the person is demanding money or more images to stay silent, that is extortion as well as harassment. Paying rarely ends it and creates a record of further transfers.
Preserve the evidence without forwarding it. Take full-page screenshots that show the sender's handle, the content and the timestamp, and copy the profile URL as text. Keep the original device and account intact. Do not forward the material to friends or groups to seek advice, because every additional transmission can be a separate offence.
Report to the platform. Use the platform's reporting tools for sexual harassment and non-consensual intimate imagery. Most major platforms have dedicated forms for this. Keep the acknowledgement, and record what you reported and when.
File at cybercrime.gov.in. Lodge the complaint on the national portal, choose the category closest to the conduct, upload the evidence, and note the acknowledgement number. Where money is being demanded, call the national cyber crime helpline 1930 as well.
Give a written complaint at the jurisdictional police station. State the conduct, the dates and the sections, attach the evidence, and ask for registration under section 173 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023. Where the victim is a woman, ask that the statement be recorded with the sensitivity the law provides for such offences.
If the police do not register an FIR, escalate. Apply to the Magistrate under section 175(3) of the BNSS, 2023 to direct an investigation. For urgent removal of material that continues to circulate, a court order compelling removal can be sought.
Protect the trail. Save the complaint numbers, the platform reference and every acknowledgement in one folder. If the material reappears on a new account, report it as a fresh instance and add it to the same complaint.

If the harassment comes with an extortion demand

A distinct pattern deserves its own note: harassment that arrives with a demand. The person may threaten to publish your private images unless you pay, or may ask for further images to stop. This is both sexual harassment and extortion, and the standard advice for any extortion applies. Do not pay, because payment confirms that you can be pressured and the demand usually returns. Preserve every message, including the payment handle or account number you were told to use, the amounts demanded and the deadlines set. Those payment details are often the strongest lead the police have, because a bank account or a unified payments handle can be traced to a person far more easily than an anonymous messaging account. Report through cybercrime.gov.in and helpline 1930 as soon as a demand is made, and state the amount clearly, because that brings the matter into the fast-tracing process used for financial fraud as well.

Where the victim is a child

If the person harassed is under eighteen, the law is stricter and the procedure changes in important ways. Section 67B of the IT Act and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 apply, and the material itself must never be forwarded, stored or re-shared, even for the purpose of complaining. The complaint should be made by a parent or guardian, or by the child with support, and the investigating officer is expected to follow the safeguards the law lays down for child victims. Where any child sexual material is encountered online, it should be reported through the platform and the national portal rather than circulated. Storing such material, even to build a case, can itself attract liability, so the correct course is to report it and let the investigating agency handle the record.

What decides the outcome

The first factor is the speed of removal. A complaint made within hours of receiving the material allows the platform to act before it spreads, and where the material concerns intimate images, platforms have dedicated expedited processes. A complaint made weeks later faces a wider trail and a greater chance that copies survive on other accounts. The second factor is the completeness of the evidence: the original device, unaltered screenshots with timestamps, and the profile links.

The third factor is whether the conduct escalated. Courts treat a single obscene message differently from a sustained campaign, and they treat threats and demands for money or images more seriously than isolated remarks. The fourth is the identity of the offender. Where the account is tied to a phone number, a payment handle or a device, the police can obtain records and build a case; where the offender is anonymous, the case depends on platform data and on how much identifying detail was preserved. Your own clean conduct in preserving, and not forwarding, the material strengthens the case considerably.

Common mistakes

Forwarding the material to friends, family or a group for advice. Each transmission can be a fresh offence and it damages your own case.
Deleting the messages or blocking the account before preserving the evidence.
Paying money to stop the circulation of images, which usually invites further demands.
Engaging in argument with the harasser, which the offender later uses to suggest the contact was welcome.
Reporting only to the platform and never to the police, which leaves no criminal record.
Waiting in shame or fear instead of reporting, which allows the material to spread further.
Storing or downloading child sexual material even for the purpose of complaining, which can itself attract liability.
Treating a demand for money or more images as a private matter to settle quietly, instead of reporting it as extortion.
Not recording the payment handle or account number the harasser supplied, which is often the best available lead.

In these cases the evidence matters more than the argument, and how you handle the material in the first day shapes what the platform, the police and the court can do.

When to involve a lawyer

You can report the account and file the complaint yourself, and for many first complaints that is enough. A lawyer becomes important where images are being circulated and you need an urgent order compelling removal, where the police are reluctant to register an FIR and an application to the Magistrate is needed, where a child is involved and the safeguards must be handled correctly, or where the offender is known and the matter also has a civil aspect such as defamation or damages. Because these cases move quickly, early help is mostly about preserving evidence properly and framing the complaint correctly rather than about argument. For the broader process, see cyber crime lawyer in Kolkata, or contact to have the complaint reviewed before it is filed. Where the matter proceeds in West Bengal, the local cyber cell and courts handle it, as explained in cyber crime lawyer in West Bengal.

Report early, preserve without forwarding, and let the platform and the police do the removal.

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Frequently asked questions

How do I file an online sexual harassment complaint in India?

Preserve the offending messages on the original device without forwarding them, report the account to the platform for removal, then lodge a complaint at cybercrime.gov.in and at the jurisdictional police station. Ask for registration under BNSS section 173. Where money is being demanded, call the national cyber crime helpline 1930 as well, and keep every acknowledgement number.

Is sending an obscene image online a criminal offence in India?

Yes. Publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form is punishable under section 67 of the IT Act, 2000, and sending sexually explicit material falls under section 67A. Where a child is depicted, section 67B and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 apply. The offence attaches to the sender and also to anyone who forwards or circulates the material further.

What should I do if someone threatens to leak my private photos?

Do not pay and do not send more images. Preserve the threat with timestamps and the sender's details, report the account to the platform, and file at cybercrime.gov.in and the jurisdictional police station, calling 1930 if money is demanded. Threats to circulate private images engage the extortion, criminal intimidation and obscenity provisions, and urgent removal orders can be sought.

Can I file a sexual harassment complaint online without revealing my identity?

You can report an account to a platform anonymously, and the national portal accepts complaints, but a criminal case needs a complainant who can give a statement to police. An FIR generally requires you to come on record. You can ask that your statement be recorded sensitively and that your details be kept confidential, but absolute anonymity through a full criminal trial is not guaranteed.

What laws protect a child from online sexual harassment?

Section 67B of the IT Act, 2000 punishes publishing, transmitting or storing child sexual material, and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 also applies. The complaint is usually made by a parent or guardian, and the investigating officer must follow special safeguards for child victims. Never forward or store such material, because doing so can itself create liability.

What evidence do I need for an online sexual harassment case?

Keep full-page screenshots showing the sender's handle, the content and the timestamp, copy the profile URL as text, and save the original device and account intact. Record the dates and platform of each incident. For court use, a certificate under section 63 of the BSA, 2023 makes the electronic records admissible, so avoid resetting or wiping the device.

Do morphed or edited photos of me count as an offence?

Yes. An edited or morphed image used to demean or sexually harass you can attract section 67 or section 67A of the IT Act, 2000 for obscene or sexually explicit material, and section 79 of the BNS, 2023 where it is intended to insult your modesty. If the image is made to appear intimate without consent, the voyeurism and privacy provisions may also apply alongside a defamation claim.

Can the police remove content from the internet?

The police can request removal and can seize records, but a platform is obliged to act once it has actual knowledge of unlawful content under section 79 of the IT Act, 2000 read with the IT Rules, 2021. In urgent cases involving private images, a court order compelling removal can be obtained, and platforms have expedited processes. Reporting to the platform and the police together achieves the fastest removal.

Information for general guidance only and not legal advice. Provisions cited follow the Information Technology Act 2000, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023 and the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023.

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