NEW DELHI: A 26-year-old woman was arrested for creating a fake social media profile of another woman she suspected of having an affair with her husband, police said on Wednesday.
The victim, a 30-year-old woman, filed a complaint alleging that someone had created a fake Instagram account in her name, using her photographs without consent.
The impersonator also followed the victim’s friends and colleagues to gather information about her, a senior police officer said. During the investigation, police traced the SIM card used for the fake account, which was registered at an address in Gazipur, Uttar Pradesh.
Further investigation led to the location of the accused in the Nangloi area of Delhi. A police team conducted a search in the area and apprehended the woman, identified as Ritu Pandey, a resident of Gazipur. Her mobile phone and SIM card were seized during the arrest, said DCP (North) Raja Banthia.
Pandey, who married in 2023, revealed that the incident stemmed from suspicions about her husband’s relationship with the complainant. She explained that before their marriage, her husband had sent her a photo with his friends, in which the complainant appeared.
Pandey also discovered that her husband was following the complainant on social media, which fueled her doubts. To confirm her suspicions, Pandey initially used her husband’s account to send inappropriate messages to the complainant, resulting in the complainant blocking the account. Not satisfied, she then created a fake Instagram account using the complainant’s name and began messaging her friends and colleagues. However, her husband remained unaware of the fake account, police said.