One of my clients recently had a case which I am explaining below and if you are stuck in such similar situation, here is what to do.
Note: Due to attorney-client privilege, I cannot disclose complete case details or identify the actual parties involved. However, I am sharing the essential facts and legal approach so that if you find yourself in a similar situation, you can understand the available solutions and legal remedies.
TL;DR: Threats made over unpaid wages are a criminal matter, and criminal intimidation is covered by Section 351 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. You can give a written complaint at the police station that covers the place where you received the threats, and an online portal complaint alone is often not enough. The unpaid wages are a separate civil claim, and if there is a real and present danger to life, call 112 first and preserve every message before you do anything else.
The threats started the morning after the portal complaint went up. A voice on the phone said the owner would come to the house, that the family would not be safe, and that they would be sorry for what had been posted. Meera Joshi's brother Karan had worked at a fitness studio in Vijay Nagar, Indore. The wages agreed were never paid in full, and the family had first tried the ordinary route: polite messages, then firmer ones, then a post on social media.
Meera had built the studio's website free of charge, as a thank-you for hiring her brother. She controlled the domain, the code and the hosting. When the threats began, she published screenshots of the owner's messages on that same website. Then she filed an online police complaint, and for a week nothing moved. She lives in a gated society with a smart doorbell and cameras, and she was frightened anyway. She has been on medication for panic disorder, and this was not a small thing in her week.
That is when she approached the Chamber of Advocate Sudhir Rao. The portal complaint and a general-practice inquiry earlier had gone nowhere. Advocate Sudhir Rao and his office reworked the material into a written complaint that a police station can act on: message logs preserved in an acceptable form, a plain statement of who said what and when, and a specific request for protection. Advocate Sudhir Rao's experience in criminal and cyber matters helped secure the outcome the family actually needed. The complaint was taken up, and the threats stopped.
Key Facts of the Case
- Wages for work already done at a fitness studio in Vijay Nagar, Indore, were paid only in part.
- The studio's website was built free of charge by the worker's sister, who kept control of the domain, the code and the hosting.
- After the dispute went public, the owner allegedly called and threatened to come to the house and said the family would not be safe. Facing a similar matter? Speak to a criminal lawyer in Delhi — Advocate Sudhir Rao appears in bail, trial and appellate matters before the Delhi District Courts, the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court of India.