The diligent action of the Fort Police in Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram has put an end to the months-long mental trauma of a woman whose morphed, obscene photos were circulated among her relatives.
The police on Friday nabbed Subu (43), a dentist at the Government Medical College Thiruvananthapuram for allegedly morphing and circulating obscene pictures of his cousin. Television actor Jaseer Khan (36) and a mobile shop owner Sreejith (27) have also been arrested for allegedly being part of the crime.
Jaseer Khan, an acquaintance of the dentist, allegedly morphed the pictures of the 27-year-old woman who lives near Varkala. Subu allegedly used to circulate these pictures using a SIM card taken in the name of someone else with the help of Sreejith, who runs a mobile shop in Nedumangad.
The SIM card was in the name of a Vattappara native. “But he wasn’t aware that the SIM card was procured using his address,” Fort Police Station Inspector Rakesh J told TNM.
The police reportedly found that Sreejith, who also has a photocopy centre attached to his mobile shop, gave the Vattappara native’s address to Subu to get the SIM card. The Vattappara native had earlier taken a photocopy of his identity card from Sreejith’s shop. The SIM was used only to circulate the pictures, the police said. The dentist allegedly spread rumours that the woman had a lover from Kottiyam in Kollam district. Subu used to allegedly post letters from Kottiyam to the woman’s husband and relatives, pretending that they were from her lover.
The woman had filed complaints with two other police stations earlier, but the probes ended with the discovery that the SIM was taken using a fake address. It was the woman’s sister, who lives under the Fort Police Station limit, who lodged the complaint the third time. She's among those who were receiving morphed pictures of her sister.
The victim is married but she and her husband separated after the obscene pictures were repeatedly circulated.
“The dentist's intention was to make her dependent on him after tarnishing her image. When a woman is portrayed in bad light, it’s unlikely that even her own family would support her. His plan was to take advantage of such a situation,” the Inspector said.
The woman, however, had looked at the dentist only as her brother as he's the son of her maternal aunt. The dentist is married and has three children. “He was the one who helped her file police complaints at first, pretending that he was with her. Hence the woman’s shock was double when the accused turned out to be someone whom she trusted,” the officer added.
The accused have been booked under sections 67 of the IT Act (for transmitting obscene material that is lascivious in nature), and sections 416 (cheating by personation) and 463 (forgery) of the Indian Penal Code and section 120 of the Kerala Police Act (for causing nuisance by repeated or undesirable or anonymous call, letter, writing, messages or email).