New Delhi: The Delhi Police has registered an FIR after a 25-year-old woman alleged that her photograph was morphed using artificial intelligence (AI) and displayed alongside Prime Minister Narendra Modi's photo during a protest at Jantar Mantar, officials said on Thursday.
The complainant has told police that the special organisers and key functionaries of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protest -- Saurbah Das, Abhijeet Dipke, Ashutosh Ranka and Ratna Singh -- and their active accomplices unauthorisedly harvested her private photographs. "They are directly responsible for the same," she has alleged.
The FIR was lodged at the Cyber police station, New Delhi, on Thursday under relevant sections of the Information Technology Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
"Complainant Riddhima Sharma has alleged in her complaint that during a recent protest organised by the CJP at Jantar Mantar, some protesters and organisers allegedly used her personal photograph without her consent and digitally manipulated it using AI face-swapping tools," a senior police officer said.
She has alleged that her face was superimposed onto an image of the prime minister to create a false and sensationalised picture, which was subsequently printed on banners and posters and displayed during the protest.
According to the complaint, the banners were allegedly waved and displayed before crowds at Jantar Mantar, while derogatory slogans and vulgar and sexually suggestive comments were made against her.
The woman has further alleged that videos of the banners and slogans were recorded and subsequently circulated on social media platforms, including Instagram.
She has told police that she had no connection with the CJP, its protest or the content displayed on the banners, and alleged that her image was used without her consent.
The complainant has also named several people, who according to her were the organisers or key functionaries of the protest, and sought action against them and others involved in the alleged use and circulation of her morphed image.
The FIR, however, lists the accused as unidentified and police have not, at this stage, named anyone as an accused in the case.
Police said the allegations are being probed from all angles, including the creation, printing, public display and online circulation of the "morphed" image.
