Abusive husband jailed for nine years for sharing wife’s explicit photos

A Karachi court has awarded a collective sentence of nine years’ imprisonment to a man for sharing his wife’s obscene photos on WhatsApp.

Judicial Magistrate (East) Yusra Ashfaq found Syed Faizan Shah guilty of sending his wife’s objectionable photos to her brother to “shame and blackmail the victim and her family with intent to exert psychological pressure and manipulate her, especially during a vulnerable period of her life when she was battling cancer”.

The magistrate sentenced the accused to three years’ imprisonment each on three counts under sections 20 (offence against dignity of a natural person), 21 (offence against modesty of a natural person and minor), and 24 (cyber stalking) of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016.

The convict was ordered to pay a total of Rs90,000 in fines or undergo additional three months’ imprisonment on default. In her detailed judgement, the magistrate observed that the motive of the accused person’s actions appeared to be rooted in a pattern of control, exploitation, and intimidation directed towards the victim.

“After their marriage, the accused consistently demanded money and misused the victim’s dowry, including substantial cash and gold. The abusive behaviour intensified over time, culminating in the accused’s deliberate act of sending explicit images of the victim to her brother,” she added.

The magistrate noted that the impact on the victim and her family had been profound as it caused emotional distress and reputational damage, further deteriorating the victim’s already fragile health. She said the family’s sense of security was severely compromised, forcing them to seek legal recourse to protect their dignity and fight against the accused person’s coercive tactics.

According to FIA prosecutor Sheraz Rajpar, accused Faizan shared obscene pictures of his wife via WhatsApp. He argued that the objectionable material was recovered from cellphone of the accused, adding that the device’s forensic examination clearly showed the accused transferred obscene photos of his wife to her brother via WhatsApp and blackmailed the victim’s family.

The prosecution contended that forensic evidence as well as testimonies of witnesses linked the accused with the commissioning of the offence. It therefore requested the magistrate to punish him as per the law.

In his statement, the complainant, brother of the victim, testified that the accused maltreated his sister after their marriage and repeatedly made demands for money. On March 2, 2022, the accused sent obscene pictures of the victim to him, after which he filed a complaint with the Cyber Crime Circle of the FIA.

The victim deposed that after their marriage in 2019, the accused squandered her dowry, including Rs500,000 in cash and thirty tola of gold, within a month. When confronted, he threatened her and further maltreated her even during her illness, she recalled, adding that as a result, she left him and began residing with her parents in February 2022.

In his statement recorded under Section 342 of the criminal procedure code, the accused denied allegations of the prosecution, saying that his phone was misused by someone.