NEW DELHI: No civilised society would approve of the abuse of children through child pornography, the Delhi HC has held, while denying anticipatory bail to a man accused of uploading a video containing child pornography online, observing that granting such relief would encourage abuse of young children.
“It is not a case of uploading pornography. It is a case of uploading child pornography. No civilised society would approve of such abuse of the child,” Justice Girish Kathpalia said.
The judge added that the grant of anticipatory bail in such cases would convey wrong signals across society and encourage the abuse of young children.
“The nature and gravity of the offence cannot be ignored. Further, as mentioned above, sustained interrogation of the accused is necessary in the present case in order to unearth the source of that pornographic clip as well as the creators thereof. Even the mobile phone has to be recovered,” the judge said.
The judge also noted that the accused was not cooperating in the investigation, which appeared to be the reason for a raid allegedly carried out by the investigating officer at the accused’s residence.
“I do not find it a fit case to grant anticipatory bail. Therefore, the anticipatory bail application, as well as the pending applications, are dismissed,” the judge said.
According to the prosecution, a 2-minute and 13-second-long child pornographic video file was shared over Facebook Messenger in 2023 from a Facebook account. The video depicted a woman indulging in an explicit sexual act with a male child. The account was associated with a mobile phone number in the name of the accused.