Juveniles apprehended for sharing nude photos of classmate online

Kendrapada: Two juveniles were apprehended by Jagatsinghpur police on Tuesday for allegedly circulating nude photographs of a 15-year-old girl on social media platforms. The girl is a Class IX student, and the juveniles are her classmates.The incident came to light last week when locals informed the girl’s mother about the images being shared on mobile phones and social media. The woman lodged an FIR on Monday, following which police registered a case against the two 16-year-old boys. Police said the duo had befriended the girl and managed to take private photographs on their mobile phones before uploading both the images and her mobile number online.The juveniles have been booked under sections 294 (public display of obscene content), 356 (criminal defamation), 351 (criminal intimidation), and 79B (acts insulting the modesty or privacy of a woman) of BNS, along with sections 66A, 66C and 67 of the IT (Amendment) Act. Both were produced before the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) in Jagatsinghpur on Tuesday, which rejected their bail pleas and sent them to the observation home in Angul,” said inspector Rashmi Ranjan Das.Lawyer Subash Nayak said a “juvenile in conflict with the law” refers to any child aged below 18 years alleged or found to have committed an offence, and the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, focuses on rehabilitation rather than punishment.