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BHUBANESWAR: In a case of breach of privacy on cyberspace, the Commissionerate Police here on Saturday received a complaint from students of Ramadevi Womens University that the photographs of at least 50 girls were used on a Facebook account with derogatory comments and captions.

The students alleged that one Aaroshi Creations, which had organised a virtual contest titled 'Best Display Picture on Facebook, 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 relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code.

The students came to know about the contest through a message on WhatsApp which was widely circulated in the university. However, one of the complainants said that none of the girls whose photographs were posted on the social networking page, had participated in the contest which was held on March 4.

We suspect that one of our acquaintances, who also figures in the Facebook 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 Ramadevi University said.

The complainants charged the owner of Aarohi Creations and another woman of misutilising their personal photographs on the Internet. Inspector in charge of Sahid Nagar police station, Kishore Chandra Mund, said that the matter was being investigated and the police were trying to ascertain whether it was the owner of Aarohi Creations who committed the offence or the social networking page was hacked.

The police refused to divulge details about Aarohi Creations or 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 added.

Soon after the matter was reported to the police, the social networking account was blocked.On Sunday, the police will be writing to Facebook authorities to verify who accessed the account and the IP address of the system from whichthe pictures were posted.

Read more:
Cyber stalking: University students' pictures hacked, posted on social network with derogatory captions - The New Indian Express