Morphed photos of Chandigarh school students go viral, parents lodge plaint

Chandigarh, October 12

A private school here has been embroiled in controversy after more than 24 students allegedly fell prey to the circulation of doctored and objectionable photos, all facilitated by the Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology. The photos were uploaded on a social media platform.

The police have registered a case under Section 67-A of the IT Act and 13 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act against unidentified persons at the Sector 11 station and started a thorough investigation.

According to the complaint, unidentified persons obtained these photos by downloading them from the official school portal. The affected students submitted a formal complaint to the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP).

On October 10, a victim started crying before her father when he came to pick her up at the school. The student revealed that on the Snapchat portal, objectionable photos were circulated and it was not limited to her alone. Several others had also fallen victim to this act. Someone had extracted photos from the school portal and manipulated them into offensive content using the AI technology.

The parents reached out to a Police Control Room (PCR) vehicle on Wednesday. Subsequently, they sought assistance from SSP (UT) Kanwardeep Kaur at her office in Sector 9. After the incident came to light, the relevant accounts were hastily removed from the Internet. Parents, in their complaint, have suggested that the individual responsible for these actions likely had some connection to the school.

A delegation of the parents concerned met the SSP and discussed the issue.

In response to the allegations, the school has issued a statement asserting that no such incident occurred within the school premises based on internal investigations. The school maintains that it has provided support and a fair hearing to the affected students. It also pledges to cooperate with the authorities as needed, with the safety of its students remaining a top priority.