To get revenge for a small dispute over water drainage, a 17-year-old female student created fake Instagram profiles of about a dozen girls from her village, including her neighbor's daughter, in an attempt to shame and defame them. Following complaints, the Nigohan police have taken the accused teenage girl into custody on Tuesday.
The whole issue started about four months ago when the student's father had an argument with his neighbor, a local grocery store owner, about a water drain. To settle the score, the 17-year-old student borrowed a mobile phone from her cousin. The phone already had someone else's email ID logged in. The student used this to create a fake Instagram profile of the grocer's daughter and began posting her pictures and videos with vulgar comments. Later, she started sending threatening and abusive messages from the fake ID to further ruin the girl's reputation.
The victim's family complained to the local police, but when no action was taken for two months, the student grew bolder. She then created fake Instagram and Facebook profiles for about 12 other girls from the village, posting their photos along with obscene messages and threats, including threats of kidnapping.
When the families of the other targeted girls found out, they filed a complaint with a senior police officer, ACP Rajneesh Verma. Acting on his orders, the Nigohan police and a surveillance team launched an investigation and caught the accused student on Tuesday. During questioning, she confessed to creating the fake IDs. The police also found numerous fake profiles on the phone she used.
Villagers reported that this cyberbullying had a very serious consequence: one of the victims, a local farmer's daughter, was engaged to be married. The student created a fake profile for her and posted her picture with obscene messages, which caused the groom's family to break off the wedding.
After the case was solved and the student was caught, the victimised women of the village honored the local police officers (Nigohan SO and Mohanlalganj ACP) to express their gratitude.