Video games, chocolates, rented room: UP couple sentenced to death for decade-long porn operation

Banda/Chitrakoot, Uttar Pradesh: A decade-long child pornography operation run by a junior engineer and his wife came to a shocking end this week, with a special court sentencing the couple to death.

Ram Bhawan and his wife, Durgawati, were found guilty of producing and distributing over 2 lakh pornographic videos involving dozens of minors, some as young as three years old.

The case, investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) since late 2020, revealed how the couple lured, abused, and exploited children across Banda and Chitrakoot districts and beyond.

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How the couple lured and threatened children

"Ram Bhawan used to apply different forms of modus operandi on children, including access to online video games and giving money or gifts to allure them," a CBI spokesperson said.

The children were drawn in by promises of mobile phones, chocolates, and watches, only to be abused and filmed. With photos and videos, the couple then threatened the victims for years, the prosecution said. Special public prosecutor Saurabh Singh noted that threats extended to the families of the minors to silence them.

Between 2010 and 2020, Ram Bhawan and Durgawati ran their operation from a rented room in Chitrakoot, all while maintaining an ordinary life, including Bhawan’s posting as a junior engineer in the state’s irrigation department.

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Scale of the operation

The CBI found that the couple recorded aggravated penetrative sexual assaults against 33 male children, and some reports suggested the victims numbered more than 50. At least 25 victims testified during the trial.

"Some of them have remained admitted in the hospital. A few of the victims developed a squint eye. Victims are still suffering from psychological trauma caused by the predators," a CBI official said.

The abuse was not just perverse; it was a commercial enterprise. The couple used multiple mobile numbers and email IDs to upload, share, and sell the material across social media, websites, and the dark web, reaching nearly 47 countries. A pen drive recovered during the investigation contained 34 explicit videos and 679 images.

The CBI collaborated with Interpol to trace buyers and recipients of the illegal content. Investigators confirmed that Ram Bhawan systematically built a digital infrastructure to distribute child pornography.

The couple was convicted under the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, including charges of aggravated penetrative sexual assault, using children for pornographic purposes, storage of pornographic material, abetment, and criminal conspiracy.