My Child Is Being Harassed Online: What Should Parents Do First?

Your daughter walked into the kitchen still in her uniform and put the phone down on the counter without a word. You picked it up. The chat was open. A username you did not recognise had sent her four messages in the last two hours. The last one said, "Just send one. Nobody will see. Don't tell your mother." You sat down. The whistle on the gas stove felt very far away.

This is the moment most Indian parents have feared since the day they handed their child a phone. It is also a moment Indian law is, perhaps surprisingly, well prepared for. The Information Technology Act, the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act 2012, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the new Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita together build one of the strongest child-protection scaffolds on the books. What it asks of you, as a parent, is calm action in the next twenty-four hours.

The First Five Minutes — What Not To Do

Before what to do, the don'ts. Don't shout. Your child may have already deleted, lied or blocked because she was scared of your reaction. Anger now will close a door that needs to stay open. Don't grab the phone and start typing. Anything you write to the harasser, even "I am the father, leave my child alone", becomes part of the chat and limits what the police can later trace. Don't delete anything. Not the messages, not the chat, not the contact, not the app. The instinct to "remove this filth from her phone" is exactly the wrong instinct. The screen is now evidence.

What you do in the first five minutes is sit beside the child, ask gently what happened, and tell her — explicitly — that she is not in trouble and that you will handle this together. Children freeze under suspicion. They open up under safety.

What Indian Law Says About Online Harm to Children

Indian cyber-law commentary recognises online pedophilia and digital child harassment as a distinct, serious category. The commentary on Chapter 11 of the IT Act notes plainly: "online pedophiles, using internet to induce minor children into sex, are as much cyber criminals as any others. The trafficking, distribution, posting, and dissemination of obscene material including pornography, indecent exposure, and child pornography, constitutes one of the most important cybercrimes known today."

That recognition translates into several overlapping provisions:

Section 67B of the IT Act — the dedicated provision against child sexual abuse material in electronic form. It punishes anyone who publishes, transmits, browses, downloads, advertises or facilitates abuse of children online. First conviction up to five years and fine up to ten lakh rupees; second conviction up to seven years.

Section 67 and 67A of the IT Act — for general obscene and sexually explicit content respectively, which often overlap with 67B in the same incident.

Section 66E of the IT Act — for capture, publication or transmission of the child's intimate images without consent.

The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act 2012 — separate, parallel and stronger. POCSO creates child-specific offences for sexual assault (Section 3 and 4), aggravated forms (Section 5 and 6), sexual harassment of a child (Section 11 and 12), and use of a child for pornographic purposes (Section 13). Punishments range from three to twenty years and life imprisonment.

IPC sections 354A (sexual harassment), 354D (stalking, including digital), 506 (criminal intimidation), 507 (anonymous threats) and 509 (insulting modesty) add further teeth.

Section 67B of the IT Act and POCSO Together

The standard practice is to register the FIR under both the IT Act and POCSO. They do not cancel each other out — they complement each other. Section 67B targets the digital act of publishing or transmitting; POCSO targets the underlying conduct against the child.

An important procedural advantage flows from this. Under BNSS Section 193 — the new procedural code — the police must complete investigation in offences under POCSO Sections 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 within two months. The same priority is given to rape and gang rape. The Special POCSO Court is required to dispose of the trial within one year from cognizance, as far as possible. By citing both the IT Act and POCSO in the FIR, you place the case in the fast-track lane.

Section 193 of the BNSS extends the requirement to complete the investigation within two months to offences under POCSO Sections 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12, in addition to offences of rape and gang rape.

The commentary on Section 67 of the IT Act notes the famous State v Avnish Bajaj case, where an MMS depicting a school student was uploaded on Baazee.com (now eBay India). Section 67 of the IT Act was invoked and the case became a milestone in how Indian courts treat electronic transmission of obscene content involving minors. The takeaway for parents is that even old precedent is on your side; the law has been catching up with the platforms for two decades.

When the Harasser Is Another Child

Many cases of online harassment in 2026 are not anonymous adults — they are classmates, exes, or friends-of-friends, all under eighteen. The legal regime then changes.

The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2015 governs children in conflict with the law. Children under sixteen are dealt with by the Juvenile Justice Board through observation home, counselling and reformative measures, not adult prison. Children between sixteen and eighteen accused of "heinous" offences — including some POCSO sub-categories — may, after a preliminary assessment under Section 15 of the JJ Act, be tried as adults.

For your child as the victim, the route is the same — FIR under POCSO and the IT Act. The accused juvenile's age does not block your right to file. The investigation officer separates the JJ track for the accused while protecting the victim's identity throughout.

For parents whose own child is on the other side — the alleged harasser — the legal exposures are real. A frank conversation with a juvenile-defence lawyer is wiser than a denial. Engagement with school counselling and a Juvenile Justice Board observation order, taken seriously, often closes the matter without lasting damage.

Where the same case has both criminal and family-law angles — for instance, where the harasser is the child of an estranged former in-law — the broader privacy law framework after Puttaswamy can also be invoked to seek protection orders against further contact.

Preserving Evidence Without Frightening Your Child

Children become defensive about their phones the moment they sense parental "operations". The trick is to make evidence-preservation a co-operative act, not an interrogation.

1. Sit down with the child. Reassure her she is not in trouble. Make tea or get a snack.
2. With her permission, take screenshots together. Capture the entire conversation — the harasser's display name, profile picture, username, the platform header, the system clock, the date.
3. If the harasser sent files (images or videos), do not open them again. Note their existence and preserve the chat with the file embedded.
4. If the child has already blocked the harasser, ask her to briefly unblock — only to take screenshots of the profile — then re-block. Document the unblock-screenshot-block sequence with timestamps in your own narrative.
5. Email the screenshots to your own ID immediately. The email server timestamp creates an independent record.
6. Do not delete the original chat. Keep the phone in its current state. The investigator may need to take a forensic image.
7. Ask the child what else she remembers — earlier conversations, mutual friends, where the harasser found her. Write a short narrative for the FIR.

If the child has shared her own intimate images, do not blame her. The law in such a case treats her as a victim, not a participant — Section 67B of the IT Act covers anyone who facilitated the production. POCSO treats the adult who solicited the image as the offender even if the child sent it voluntarily, because a minor cannot consent to such transmission.

Talking to the School and the Platform

Two parallel reports, both within twenty-four hours.

The school. CBSE and NCPCR guidelines require every school to have a Child Protection Officer and to act on online-harassment complaints. Send a written complaint to the principal, retain a stamped copy of the receipt. If the harasser is another student of the same school, the school's own internal action — counselling, suspension, parent meeting — runs parallel to the police process.

The platform. The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines) Rules require every social-media intermediary to act within thirty-six hours of actual knowledge from an aggrieved person and disable obscene, pornographic or pedophilic content. Use the platform's official report tool, mark the violation as "child safety". For India, the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (cybercrime.gov.in) operates a "Report Women/Child Related Crime" channel that fast-tracks takedowns. The cybercrime portal also has a separate Stop Non-Consensual Intimate Imagery channel.

Failure of the intermediary to act within thirty-six hours can itself expose the platform to liability under Section 67B read with Section 79 of the IT Act. As a parent, you have leverage; use it through the formal channels and retain every acknowledgement.

Lodging the FIR — and the Magistrate Route

The cyber complaint and the FIR are different documents. Lodge both.

Cyber complaint at cybercrime.gov.in. Twenty-four-hour portal. Upload screenshots, the harasser's username or number, and the narrative. Save the acknowledgement number.

FIR at the police station under BNSS Section 173. The new BNSS, effective 1 July 2024, requires every information about a cognizable offence to be reduced to writing — irrespective of the area where the offence was committed. The classical authority — Soma v State of Gujarat AIR 1975 SC 1453 — held that the earliest information to the police, which sets the investigation in motion, becomes the FIR. POCSO offences against children are cognizable; the SHO has no discretion to refuse.

Cite at minimum: Section 67B of the IT Act, Section 67 and 67A where applicable, Section 66E if intimate images are involved, IPC Sections 354A, 354D, 506, 507 and 509, and POCSO Sections 11, 12 and 13. Insist on a copy of the FIR with the FIR number, station, and date stamp.

If the SHO is hesitant — which can happen in smaller stations — use BNSS Section 173(4) (old CrPC Section 154(3)) and send the complaint by registered post to the Superintendent of Police. The SP must investigate or direct investigation. If the SP also fails, file a private complaint before the jurisdictional Judicial Magistrate or the Special POCSO Court under BNSS Section 223 (old CrPC Section 200), and request BNSS Section 175(3) investigation.

For parents navigating this for the first time, professional legal support reduces the trauma significantly. The cyber and child-protection team at Pinaka Legal handles the FIR, takedown coordination, school engagement, and POCSO Special Court proceedings as a single workflow — letting parents focus on the child while the paperwork moves.

Child-Friendly Investigation and Trial

Many parents avoid filing because they fear the process itself will harm the child. Indian law has built specific protections.

Statement recording. Under POCSO Section 24, the child's statement must be recorded by a woman officer not in police uniform, at the child's home or a place she is comfortable, and in the presence of a person the child trusts — usually a parent. The child cannot be called to the police station between sunset and sunrise. The Magistrate's recording under BNSS Section 183 (old CrPC Section 164) follows the same protections.

Trial. Conducted by Special POCSO Courts. Trial is in-camera. The child does not face the accused — evidence is recorded through video-conference or via a screen. The judge controls the questioning; aggressive cross-examination is not permitted, and the defence must put questions through the judge. The child's identity is protected throughout — Section 23 of POCSO criminalises any disclosure of the child's identity in media.

Support persons. POCSO recognises the role of a "support person" — a counsellor, social worker or relative — who can be present at every stage. Many District Child Protection Units provide trained support persons free of charge.

A parent who knows these protections enters the police station differently. The fear that "she will be made to face him in court" is not how the system is designed.

What Should I Actually Do Now?

1. Sit beside your child. Reassure her she is not in trouble. Let her tell you what happened.
2. Together, take screenshots of the entire conversation — sender details, profile, system clock, platform header.
3. Email the screenshots to your own ID for an independent server-stamp.
4. Do not delete the original chat or block the harasser yet. Preserve the phone state.
5. Report to the platform via its official child-safety tool and via cybercrime.gov.in's "Report Women/Child Related Crime" channel.
6. Inform the school in writing within twenty-four hours. Retain a stamped copy.
7. Walk into the nearest police station — preferably one with a Special Juvenile Police Unit — with the screenshots, photo IDs of yourself and the child, and a written complaint. Insist on FIR registration under IT Act Sections 67B, 67A and 66E, IPC Sections 354A, 354D, 506, 507 and 509, and POCSO Sections 11, 12 and 13.
8. Get the FIR copy with FIR number and date stamp before leaving.
9. If the SHO refuses, send the complaint by registered post to the Superintendent of Police on the same day.
10. If the SP also fails, file a private complaint under BNSS Section 223 before the Special POCSO Court within thirty days. Detailed step-by-step guidance on the Magistrate route is here.

A Word From One Parent to Another

The hardest thing about online harassment of children is the silence around it. Parents fear shame, school authorities fear publicity, the child fears blame. The harasser counts on every layer of that silence. He sends the message at 4:30 PM on a Tuesday because he knows the parent is at work, the school is winding down, and the child is alone with her phone. The legal scaffold described above exists precisely to convert that silence into a paper trail.

You do not need to become an expert in Sections 67B and POCSO. You need to take five steps in twenty-four hours — comfort the child, save the evidence, report to the platform, file the FIR, inform the school. Everything else flows from those five steps. The investigating officer does not expect the parent to draft the chargesheet; she expects you to walk in calmly with the screenshots and a clear story.

A child who sees her parent act calmly and decisively learns something the harasser cannot undo — that she lives in a household where things get fixed, where adults take care, where the law is on her side. That lesson is worth more than the FIR copy. The FIR copy is the side benefit.

If you are reading this with the chat open on the kitchen counter, take a breath. Make tea. Sit with your child. The next twenty-four hours start now.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the strongest legal weapon parents have when a child is harassed online?

The combination of Section 67B of the IT Act with the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act 2012. Section 67B punishes whoever publishes, transmits, browses, downloads, advertises or facilitates abuse of children in sexually explicit material, with imprisonment up to five years and fine up to ten lakh rupees on first conviction. Where a real child is targeted — not just images — POCSO offences apply with much harsher punishment. BNSS Section 193 expressly extends the investigation period for POCSO offences and treats them on par with rape and gang rape for police-report purposes.

My child told me a stranger is messaging on Instagram. Is that already a crime?

It can be, depending on the content. Online grooming — sustained contact with a child intending to lower the child's resistance to sexual contact — is itself an offence under POCSO. If the stranger has sent any sexually explicit content, Section 67B of the IT Act is squarely attracted. If he has merely sent persistent, unwanted messages, Section 354D of the IPC (stalking, including online monitoring) and Section 506 (criminal intimidation) may apply. Even where no explicit content is sent yet, the conversation log should be preserved — early intervention prevents the next stage.

My child is the one cyberbullying others. What are my legal exposures?

Indian law treats children in conflict with the law under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2015, not the regular criminal courts. Children below 16 are dealt with under the JJ Act through the Juvenile Justice Board. Children between 16 and 18 accused of heinous offences may, after a preliminary assessment, be tried as adults. The parents' civil exposure is also real — civil suits for damages under tort principles can be filed by the victim's family. Engage early with a counsellor and a lawyer; treat the matter as a turning point, not a closed door.

How do I preserve evidence from my child's phone without scaring her further?

Sit beside the child, keep the tone calm, take screenshots together. Capture the entire conversation — the harasser's display name, profile picture, username, the platform header, the system clock and date. Email the screenshots to your own ID for an independent timestamp. Do not delete the original chat. If your child has already blocked the account, ask her to unblock briefly — only to take screenshots of the profile — then re-block. Where the child has shared intimate images, save the file but do not open it again unnecessarily. Trust matters more than perfect evidence.

Will the school or college help, or do I have to go straight to the police?

Both, in parallel. The school must act under the CBSE and NCPCR guidelines on child protection — most schools have a Child Protection Officer or a designated counsellor. Inform the school in writing, retain a copy. Independently, file a cyber complaint at cybercrime.gov.in and an FIR at the police station. Do not let the school's response delay the police step. Many schools, well-meaning, ask parents to keep matters internal — that is acceptable for minor peer disputes, but the moment sexual or threat content is involved, the FIR cannot wait.

Which sections should the FIR for a child online harassment case cite?

At minimum: Section 67B of the IT Act (sexual content involving children), Section 67 and 67A where applicable, Section 66E for privacy violations involving intimate images, IPC Section 354A (sexual harassment), Section 354D (stalking, including online), Section 506 (criminal intimidation), Section 507 (anonymous communication), and the relevant POCSO sections — particularly Section 11 (sexual harassment of a child), Section 12 (punishment for sexual harassment of a child) and Section 13 (use of child for pornographic purposes). The FIR should not be thin; cite every section that fits the facts.

My child received a friend request that turned into asking for photos. Has anything illegal happened?

Yes — this is the classic grooming pattern recognised by international and Indian child-protection literature. Sustained adult contact with a child, with the intent to use the child for sexual purposes, attracts POCSO offences for sexual harassment of a child even before any explicit image is exchanged. Section 67B of the IT Act covers facilitating online abuse of children. Section 354D IPC covers digital stalking. The fact that no image was eventually sent does not save the harasser — attempts and grooming behaviour are themselves punishable. File the FIR; do not wait for the situation to escalate.

Can the police interview my child? Will it be in front of strangers?

Yes, but the law tries hard to make this child-friendly. POCSO requires statements of a child to be recorded by a woman officer not in police uniform, at the child's home or a place she is comfortable, and in the presence of a person the child trusts. The child cannot be called to the police station after sunset or before sunrise. The Magistrate's recording under BNSS Section 183 (old CrPC Section 164) follows the same protections. Many Districts have a Special Juvenile Police Unit. You as a parent have the right to be present throughout.

Will my child have to go to court?

In serious POCSO matters, yes — but the procedure is designed to minimise trauma. The child is not made to face the accused. Evidence is recorded through video-conferencing or via screen, the questioning is done by a child-friendly judge sometimes in chambers, and the trial is in-camera. Special Courts under POCSO conduct the trial. Aggressive cross-examination is not permitted; the defence may put questions only through the judge. Many parents fear this stage and avoid filing — that fear is misplaced.

Is it true that the harasser will get bail and come back?

Bailability depends on the section. Section 67 of the IT Act, with its three-year cap, is bailable. Section 67A and 67B are non-bailable, with five-year and seven-year caps. POCSO offences, depending on gravity, are largely non-bailable. The court grants bail conditionally — surrender of passport, no contact with the child, distance restrictions. If the accused breaches conditions, bail is cancelled. Parents fearing retaliation can apply for additional protection from the same court that grants bail.

How long does a POCSO and IT Act 67B investigation take?

BNSS Section 193, the new procedural law, requires the police to complete investigation in offences under POCSO Sections 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 within two months — the same priority given to rape and gang rape. The chargesheet is filed in two months. The Special POCSO Court is required to dispose of the trial within one year from the date of cognizance, as far as possible. In practice, the timeline depends on whether the accused is identified and arrested. With clean digital evidence, well-preserved screenshots and prompt FIR, cases close in nine to fifteen months.

Will the platform really take down the harasser and the content?

Yes. The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines) Rules require every social-media intermediary to act within thirty-six hours of actual knowledge from an aggrieved person and disable obscene, pornographic or pedophilic content. For child-related content, platforms are particularly responsive — most have dedicated child-safety teams. The cybercrime.gov.in portal also operates a Stop Non-Consensual Intimate Imagery channel. Failure of the intermediary to act exposes it to liability under Section 67B read with Section 79. As a parent you have leverage; use the formal channels, retain acknowledgements.

For more articles on Indian law, visit the Pinaka Legal Blog. For queries, call +91 8595704798 or email info@pinakalegal.com.