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Blackmailed with AI fakes of his sisters, Faridabad teen kills self: How he was trapped
The accused allegedly demanded ₹20,000 from the Faridabad student in exchange for not circulating the deepfakes online.
A 19-year-old college student from Old Faridabad’s Baselwa Colony fell into a deadly trap after two unidentified individuals allegedly hacked his phone and began blackmailing him with AI-generated morphed photos and videos of his sisters, police said. The sequence that ended in his death on Saturday evening began nearly ten days earlier, when the suspects first contacted him through a messaging app.
According to investigators at the NIT police station, the student, a B.Com undergraduate at a local college, had been receiving repeated threats from the two suspects, who claimed to possess digitally altered visuals of him and his sisters. The accused allegedly demanded ₹20,000 in exchange for not circulating the deepfakes online.
Police said the harassment began soon after the victim’s phone was compromised. The suspects used the access to create and send morphed pictures and continued to message him persistently.
“They had created morphed pictures and images of the deceased, along with his sisters,” a senior official said, requesting anonymity.
The messages reportedly grew more threatening over time, and the student, unable to confide in anyone, became increasingly distressed.
On Saturday evening, around 7pm, he consumed poison inside his room. His family members rushed him to a local hospital, but he succumbed during treatment, officials said.
Faridabad police spokesperson Yashpal Yadav said a case has been registered under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and efforts are on to identify and apprehend the two suspects.
Investigators are examining the victim’s phone, chat history, and social media accounts to trace how the accused gained access to his personal data and created the deepfake content.
Family members told police that the student had withdrawn from social interactions and appeared tense in the days leading up to the incident.
(With inputs from Abhishek Bhatia)
