Three young people in the Kasargod district of Kerala created fake nude images of over 150 women from their village. They created the images using Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology. The accused who have been identified as Sibin Lukose (21), Ebin Tom Joseph (18) and Justin Jacob (21) have reportedly been taken into custody at Kasargod’s Chittarikkal police station, according to a report by Onmanorama. However, the trio was later released on station bail.
They were involved in the heinous act for the last one and a half years. These photos had been posted to a private Instagram account that was only accessible to a select group of users. Station House Officer of Chittarikka informed, “They were booked under Section 67 (a) of the Information Technology Act for transmitting material containing sexually explicit acts in electronic form.”
They stole pictures of the females of their village and the surrounding areas from social media and utilized AI software to alter and turn them into naked images. Furthermore, they used their digital camera to snap photographs of those women who didn’t post their pics online. The perpetrators had also doctored photos of at least forty female pupils who were studying with them. They also went after those who attended church for prayers on Sundays.
The revelation of their illicit actions transpired on 11th June when Sibin visited his friend’s home who came across a picture of his relative while idly browsing through the former’s phone and noticed that the device included multiple explicit pictures of women he knew. Panchayat member and Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader stated, “The friend copied some photographs to his phone and approached his relatives and me.”
He claimed that Sibin and Ebin created the pictures and forwarded them to Justin. The two had erased the photos from their phones before the cops showed there, but Justin didn’t. He revealed, “We found photographs of around 40 of their schoolmates. They also clicked and used photographs of women when they came to church on Sundays, and when they climbed the hill here for the Way of the Cross procession on Good Friday.” The CPM leader added, “On Sunday (June 16), we organised an awareness meeting to discuss the matter. At least 210 people attended the meeting.”
The small hamlet is feeling anxious as a result of the news. The deputy superintendent of police (DSP) assured, “We will protect the complainant’s privacy and investigate the matter.” The police are anticipating more people to come forward after four have already complained to the authorities. The Cyber Police has received the cell phones of the offenders for a forensic analysis.
According to the panchayat member who lodged the police complaint, Ebin did not pass Class 12 this year. Sibin and Justin, on the other hand, make their money by cleaning private buses. They might be sentenced to up to seven years in prison and fined Rs. 10 lakh if found guilty.
