BHUBANESWAR: In a case of cyber-stalking, the Commissionerate of Police on Saturday received a complaint from students of RD Women’s University that the photographs of at least 50 girls were used on a Facebook (FB) account with derogatory comments and captions.
The students alleged that one Aarohi Creations, which had recently organised a virtual contest, ‘Best Display Picture’, on FB, used personal photographs of the girls without their consent. So far, six girls from the varsity have lodged complaints with the Saheed Nagar police. The police have registered a case under the Information Technology Act and the Indian Penal Code.
The students came to know about the contest through a message on WhatsApp which was widely circulated in the university. One of the complainants said, none of the girls whose photographs have been posted on the social networking page, had participated in the contest.
“We suspect that one of our acquaintances, who also figures in the FB friend list of Aarohi Creations has shared our pictures with the miscreant. Several photos of the ‘contest’ and its winners were also posted on the same page later, but none of my friends had participated in it,” a post-graduate student of the university said.
The complainants charged the owner of Aarohi Creations and another woman of misutilising their personal photographs on the Internet. When contacted, Saheed Nagar IIC Kishore Chandra Mund said the matter is being investigated and police are trying to ascertain whether it was the owner of Aarohi Creations who committed the offence or the social networking page was hacked.
However, police refuted to divulge details about the Aarohi Creations and its owner. “Earlier this month, there was a post on the same page which reported that the organisation was running a sex racket in the city. There is a possibility that the account was hacked,” Mund said.
The police have registered two FIRs in this case. The first one is on the basis of the complaints filed by the six students of the University. The second FIR was filed on the basis of another student who alleged that her name was maligned with the owner of Aarohi Creations on a fake facebook account.
Soon after the matter was reported to the police, the social networking account was blocked. On Sunday, the police will write to the Facebook authorities to verify the account and the IP address.