Man held over fake profile of woman

A 24-year-old graduate has been arrested after he allegedly created a fake Facebook profile of his former lady college mate and posted obscene messages on it inviting people to chat with her.

The police said the youth was in love with the woman, who is engaged to another man. The fake profile of the woman — which had a different name but contained pictures stolen from her genuine Facebook profile —remained active for two months without her knowledge.

The accused also used her WhatsApp display picture, the police said. Senior police inspector, Kalpana Gadekar of Cyber cell said, “Our slogan Har ek friend zaroori nahi hota (not every friend is essential) proved to be correct yet again. We advised the complainant to lock her photographs on Facebook so strangers can’t access it.”

The first information report was registered on December 15 last year. The woman had no idea who was behind the crime. The accused and the victim are Kandivali residents. Both were college mates and are from the same friend group.

They were friends on Facebook and hence the accused had access to all her personal photographs. The woman’s fiancé is also part of his friend list.

The accused, who was in love with the woman, created a fake FB profile of her using his mobile phone.

A couple of months after the incident, the woman got to know about the fake profile through her friend circle.

With the help of Facebook authorities and technical evidence, a cyber cell team led by API Sarika Thorat nabbed the accused on Thursday night.

The complainant was shocked to know that he is behind the crime, the police said. The accused is a B. Com graduate and works in a private firm in MIDC. He lives with his parents and two brothers.

A first information report has been registered against the accused under sections 509 (Word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman), 500 (Punishment for defamation) of Indian Penal Code and 67 (Punishment for publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form) of Information Technology Act.