Youth held for obscene postings on Facebook

SALEM: A 21-year-old powerloom worker was arrested on Wednesday for posting on Facebook a morphed semi-nude picture of a young girl, who committed suicide, after seeing the obscene postings. The accused P. Suresh, a powerloom worker at Kalparapatti near Ilampillai in rural Salem was arrested on charges of abetment to suicide and committing offence against women.

On Monday morning, the 21-year-old girl Vinupriya hanged herself to death, after seeing her morphed obscene pictures on Facebook. Her suicide triggered widespread outrage, prompting the police to swiftly nab the culprit. According to the police, it was a one-sided, unrequited love affair that prompted the accused Suresh to post the doctored, obscene pictures of Vinupriya on Facebook. “As Vinupriya did not reciprocate his love, he got angry, doctored her pictures and posted them on Facebook,” a police officer said.

Meanwhile, the district SP, Amit Kumar Singh said that the accused Suresh had been arrested on charges of abetment to suicide and under six sections of Prevention of Crime against Women's Act. The SP also gave a clean chit to the deceased girl, Vinupriya, stating that she had done no mistake. “She had nothing to do with the accused,” he said. When the first obscene pictures were posted on Facebook, Vinupriya and her parents lodged a police complaint. But the police took no action, and a second set of pictures was posted on Sunday, eventually prompting Vinupriya to end her life.

Shockingly, a cop had demanded a mobile phone for probing into the complaint and a few cops humiliated her stating that she was responsible for the obscene postings. The girl's parents had accused that police negligence in taking action on their complaint last week about the obscene FB posting, had led to the suicide of their daughter. They had also alleged that a head constable of the cyber crime cell had demanded and got a mobile phone from them for investigating into their complaint.

As investigation in the case continues, the head constable who demanded a mobile phone from the girl's parents, has been placed under suspension. Meanwhile, women activists led by Jothilakshmi, state secretary of the All India Democratic Women's Association, staged a demonstration in front of the district collector's office, protesting the police inaction that led to the suicide of the young girl.

“We are not convinced that the accused who has been caught now is the real culprit. The police seem to be in an undue haste to wrap up the case and end the controversy. The police department has to be held responsible for the suicide of 21-year-old Vinupriya," said Jothilakshmi. The state government should give compensation to the family of Vinupriya, she demanded.