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: An online harassment FIR is a real option when a former partner stalks you, runs a fake profile in your name, or threatens to publish private photographs. The complaint goes to your local police station under Section 173 BNSS, and the fake account can be reported for takedown in parallel. A threat to file a counter-FIR is a pressure tactic, not a defence or a bar to your own complaint.
Meera Krishnan had been with Karthik Reddy for ten years before it ended. That was in November 2023. By February 2025 her family in Pune had fixed her marriage to another man, and the engagement date was already being discussed at home over dinner.
Karthik found out. The calls to her mother came first, then to her younger brother Rohit, who works at Infosys. The demand never changed. Marry her to me. Meera refused.
Then a profile with her name and her photographs appeared on Instagram, and messages went out to people in her contacts. Rohit's reading is that some private photographs from the relationship exist and are being held over his sister's head. He says this plainly and admits he cannot be sure. He also repeated what the man had told them, that there was nothing to fear because the family business would absorb any trouble.
Then came the threat of a counter-FIR. Meera took it seriously. She had recently moved into a new role and a police
Facing a similar matter? Speak to a Delhi criminal defence lawyer — 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.