Class 11 girl dies by suicide after harassment, blackmail by 2 youth using AI images

Bhopal: A 17-year-old Class 11 student allegedly died by suicide at her house in Bhopal’s Aishbagh area on Thursday night, with family members accusing two youths of harassing and blackmailing her using morphed obscene photographs allegedly created with the help of artificial intelligence tools.

The girl was found hanging inside her room after she allegedly sent her younger sister outside on some pretext. Family members rushed her down and attempted to save her, but she already died by then. Her body was sent for post-mortem examination on Friday.

According to family members, the teenager was under severe mental stress for the past several weeks. They alleged that two youths from the Chhola area were threatening to circulate edited obscene images prepared using photographs taken from her social media accounts. The family further claimed that the accused allegedly were stalking the girl while she travelled to and from school and were pressuring her to meet them.

The incident triggered outrage among relatives, who gathered at Aishbagh police station on Friday, demanding strict action against the accused. Family members alleged that the girl never personally interacted with the youths and that the images were digitally manipulated using AI tools.

“The incident took place on Thursday night. Autopsy was done today. Kin are levelling allegations that using her morphed pictures some youth were harassing her and blackmailing her. They came to the police station after autopsy too, they were informed to record their statements. The statements are yet to be recorded. As of now a case of unnatural death has been registered and based on the statement of kin and the evidence further course of action will be decided,” Aishbagh police station in-charge Sandeep Pawar told TOI.

Police said no suicide note was recovered from the spot. Investigators are likely to examine the girl’s mobile phone and social media accounts as part of the probe.