A special Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) court in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh, has sentenced an accused named Ramji to five years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 1.5 lakh in a child sexual exploitation material (CSEM) case. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) reported that the court’s Special Judge under the POCSO Act delivered the verdict on May 22 after finding Ramji guilty of circulating and storing child sexual exploitation material online.
The CBI initiated the case on November 14, 2021, based on information suggesting the involvement of a syndicate operating across India and abroad in circulating, storing, and viewing CSEM through various social media platforms and groups. Allegations pointed towards the accused and others disseminating objectionable content through sharing links, videos, pictures, texts, and posts, as well as hosting such material on social media groups and third-party storage platforms.
Investigations revealed that the accused managed multiple Gmail IDs, allegedly used to create numerous accounts on Pdisk, a video-sharing platform akin to YouTube, under different usernames. These accounts reportedly contained electronic material depicting children in sexually explicit acts. The accused purportedly utilized these Pdisk accounts to circulate pornographic and CSEM content, profiting monetarily from these activities.
Upon concluding the probe, the CBI filed a charge sheet against the accused on June 30, 2022, with a supplementary chargesheet submitted on December 7, 2022. The court framed charges against the accused on April 20, 2023, initiating the trial proceedings. Following a thorough examination of evidence and arguments from both sides, the special court convicted the accused, sentencing him to five years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1.5 lakh.
