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High News report Criminal Charges

Delhi: a 22-year-old engineering graduate was arrested for turning a college acquaintance's private social-media photographs into AI-generated obscene images uploaded to anonymous Discord servers, and for reposting more explicit AI-generated images and videos that other users made; the complainant also reported threatening messages from anonymous accounts

Delhi Police announced on Wednesday 9 September 2026 the arrest of a 22-year-old BTech graduate from East Punjabi Bagh after a 22-year-old woman complained to the Cyber Police Station in North Delhi that unknown persons had created and circulated AI-generated obscene photographs and videos using her facial images. She had received messages from anonymous Instagram accounts telling her that morphed photographs and videos of her were being circulated on Discord servers; she also alleged that fake Instagram accounts were posting the material and that threatening messages were being sent to her to humiliate and harass her. Police traced linked Instagram, Discord and Gmail accounts to the accused, who they say obtained her photographs from her private account, used AI image-generation and editing tools to create the images, uploaded them to anonymous Discord servers and later reposted more explicit AI-generated images and videos made by other users. Police say he told them he knew her from college and had developed personal resentment after repeated insults. A mobile phone and two SIM cards were recovered; investigation continues. The period over which the material circulated is not stated.

AI System

AI-based image-generation and editing tools (not identified)

Occurred

Event date unknown

Reported

9 September 2026

Event location

India

Platform

other

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: reported. Delhi Police state that the accused used AI-based image-generation and editing technology to create obscene morphed images from photographs taken from the complainant's private account, and that other users then made more explicit AI-generated images and videos which he reposted. The tools are not identified. Both inspected reports carry the police account.

AI-to-person relation

  • Depicted or impersonated the person

Core relations are communication, acting on someone’s behalf, and depiction or impersonation. Decision and claim relations are retained as contextual cases.

Someone else’s AI use. Settings: Everyday life, Privacy, Relationships.

Claim status: Reported

The 22-year-old complainant reported to the Cyber Police Station in North Delhi that AI-generated obscene photographs and videos using her facial images were being created and circulated through Discord servers and fake Instagram accounts, and that threatening messages were being sent to humiliate and harass her.

Causal attribution: Police account of the complaint (one chain).

  • News report (supports): 'the 22-year-old woman approached the Cyber Police Station in North Delhi and alleged that unknown persons had created and circulated AI-generated obscene photographs and videos using her facial images'; 'her morphed photographs and videos were being circulated through Discord servers'; 'threatening messages were being sent to her with the intention of humiliating and harassing her'
  • News report (supports): 'Police received a complaint from the 22-year-old woman telling that unknown persons had created and circulated obscene AI-generated photographs and videos using her facial images'

Claim status: Reported

Police arrested a 22-year-old BTech graduate from East Punjabi Bagh, saying he took her photographs from her private account, used AI image-generation and editing tools to create obscene morphed images, uploaded them to anonymous Discord servers and reposted more explicit AI-generated material made by other users, operating multiple fake accounts to stay anonymous.

Causal attribution: Police statement; the accused is untried.

  • News report (supports): 'A 22-year-old man was arrested for allegedly using photographs of a college acquaintance taken from her private social media account to create obscene AI-generated images and circulate them through fake social media accounts, police said on Wednesday'; 'He obtained photographs of the complainant from her private account and used AI-based image-generation and editing technology to create obscene morphed images'; 'after the initial content was uploaded, unknown online users created more explicit AI-generated images and videos, which he subsequently reposted on the platform'; 'allegedly operated multiple fake Instagram, Discord and Facebook accounts and used several Gmail IDs to maintain anonymity'
  • News report (supports): 'used AI-based tools to create obscene images, which he uploaded on anonymous Discord servers'; 'later reposted more explicit AI-generated images and videos created by other users'

Claim status: Reported

Police say the accused told them he knew the complainant from college and had developed personal resentment after repeated insults; a mobile phone, two SIM cards and other digital evidence were recovered, and investigation continues.

Causal attribution: Police account of the interrogation.

  • News report (supports): 'he knew the complainant from college and that personal resentment had developed between them following repeated insults'; 'police recovered a mobile phone, two SIM cards'; 'Further investigation is under way'
  • News report (supports): 'he allegedly told police that he knew the woman from college and was resentful of her after repeated insults'

What remains unknown

  • The dates of the circulation and of the complaint are not stated; only the arrest announcement (9 September 2026) is dated.
  • The AI tools used are not identified.
  • The other online users who made further images and videos are unidentified.
  • No charge sheet or court proceeding is reported.
Source reading, translation and location

News report · en · Source inspected

Read live in English on 2026-09-20 (HTTP 200). PTI report quoting a senior police officer.

This source shares an underlying account with another listed source.

News report · en · Source inspected

Read live in English on 2026-09-20 (HTTP 200). Times of India Delhi report of the same police account.

This source shares an underlying account with another listed source.

Event countries: India. Affected-person countries: India. Court countries: Unknown.

Complaint at the Cyber Police Station, North Delhi; accused resident of East Punjabi Bagh, Delhi (police statement in both reports). No court proceeding reported.

Reviewed for publication 2026-09-20: Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as a harmful-artifact and harassment case with one identified (unnamed) depicted person, a police complaint and an arrest. Two English reports read, both carrying the Delhi Police account; claims recorded as reported. The complainant is unnamed in the sources; the accused, named by police, is not named here because the case is untried; no image content is described beyond 'obscene AI-generated images'.

What Happened

Police account (Delhi Police, via PTI and the Times of India). The complainant told the Cyber Police Station in North Delhi that unknown persons had created and circulated AI-generated obscene photographs and videos using her facial images. She had received messages from several anonymous Instagram accounts saying her morphed photographs and videos were being circulated through Discord servers; fake Instagram accounts were posting and sharing the content; and threatening messages were being sent to her 'with the intention of humiliating and harassing her'. Investigators analysed digital footprints, social-media accounts and email IDs, found linkages among multiple Instagram accounts, Discord accounts and Gmail IDs, and identified and arrested the accused, a BTech graduate in electronics and communication engineering living in East Punjabi Bagh. Police say he obtained her photographs from her private account and used AI-based image-generation and editing technology to create obscene morphed images, which he uploaded to anonymous Discord servers; after the initial uploads, unknown online users created more explicit AI-generated images and videos, which he reposted. He allegedly operated multiple fake Instagram, Discord and Facebook accounts and several Gmail IDs to stay anonymous. During interrogation he said he knew the complainant from college and that personal resentment had developed after repeated insults. A mobile phone, two SIM cards and other digital evidence were recovered.

Reporting. The Tribune carries the PTI report quoting a senior police officer; the Times of India's Delhi desk carries the same police account. One police chain.

Limits. The dates of the circulation and of the complaint are not stated. The other users who made further images are unidentified.

Reported harm

A woman's face was used in AI-generated obscene images and videos circulated on Discord servers and fake Instagram accounts, and she reported threatening messages intended to humiliate and harass her. Police attribute the initial images and the reposting to the arrested acquaintance and the more explicit images and videos to unidentified users; neither inspected report attributes the threatening messages to any identified person.

Exploitation or AbusePsychological DistressReputational Harm

Outcome

Ongoing

Case registered at the Cyber Police Station, North Delhi, on the woman's complaint; accused arrested after a technical probe of the linked accounts; mobile phone and two SIM cards recovered; further investigation under way (police statement, 9 September 2026). No charge sheet or court proceeding reported.

People described

A 22-year-old woman, a college acquaintance of the accused (unnamed)

People reported harmed in this case

1 person

0 AI participants · 1 other person harmed

One complainant whose facial images were used (police statement). Exact 1. The accused used the AI tools, so she is counted as another person harmed.

Counted once within this case. The same person may appear in other cases. This count does not establish AI causation.

Cite this case

Compiled per our published methodology: verification statuses, sourcing standards, and corrections process.

APA

NOPE. (2026). Delhi: a 22-year-old engineering graduate was arrested for turning a college acquaintance's private social-media photographs into AI-generated obscene images uploaded to anonymous Discord servers, and for reposting more explicit AI-generated images and videos that other users made; the complainant also reported threatening messages from anonymous accounts. NOPE: AI and people. https://nope.net/incidents/2026-delhi-ai-obscene-images-college-acquaintance-discord

BibTeX

@misc{2026_delhi_ai_obscene_images_college_acquaintance_discord,
  title = {Delhi: a 22-year-old engineering graduate was arrested for turning a college acquaintance's private social-media photographs into AI-generated obscene images uploaded to anonymous Discord servers, and for reposting more explicit AI-generated images and videos that other users made; the complainant also reported threatening messages from anonymous accounts},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {NOPE: AI and people},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2026-delhi-ai-obscene-images-college-acquaintance-discord}
}

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