A 42-year-old man from Thoothukudi has been taken into custody for digitally tormenting a woman and issuing threats to post explicit images of her and her daughters online.

The victim, residing in Nerkundram, had befriended the accused on Facebook two years ago. The man used the alias “Saravana Vikram” on the platform. Their online friendship progressed to exchanging phone numbers and frequent chats.

However, things soon took a dark turn. The accused began displaying controlling behavior, dictating whom she could speak to. He started bombarding her WhatsApp with vulgar content and subjected her to continuous harassment.

Unable to bear the abuse, the woman severed all communication and even changed her contact number. But the man was relentless. He reached out to the victim’s sister through Facebook, threatening to release digitally manipulated images of the woman. Through this method, he also managed to get hold of her new number.

He then escalated the threats, warning that he would tamper with and circulate inappropriate photos of her daughters as well. Fearing for her family’s safety, the woman approached the West Zone cyber crime unit and filed a formal complaint two days ago.

After a swift investigation, police arrested the suspect, identified as S. Gopi. It emerged that Gopi was a repeat offender. He maintained at least five fake Facebook profiles and nine Instagram accounts to trap and exploit women.

Gopi was presented in court and has been remanded to judicial custody.

#CyberCrime #OnlineHarassment #DigitalSafety #JusticeServed