The cybercrime cell of Thane police is looking for a person or persons unknown who circulated a woman's profile picture on WhatsApp with a caption falsely calling her a conwoman. The defamatory message has spread to Hyderabad, Nagpur and other cities through WhatsApp and Facebook. The incident has caused infamy, trauma, and sleepless nights to the woman and her family (names withheld), she said.
Noticed by the woman's brother in September, the WhatsApp message about her said, 'The above picture is of a conwoman. She comes door-to-door and tells you that she is from a gas company and has come to see if there is any problem with the gas. Then she will discuss other problems and will ask you if she can use the bathroom. Then she will hypnotize and rob you.'
Her brother said, "She is a software engineer and has never even been involved in any sales job."
The brother, a Dombivali resident, complained to the Thane cybercrime cell on September 15. He said that in October he noticed that the message had been shared over 7,000 times on Facebook.
He said, "A week ago, I approached the Thane cybercrime cell and told them about about the Facebook shares." He added that he had also contacted many of the concerned people on Facebook and they had apologised for spreading the false information.
He said the incident had given him and his family sleepless nights. "The people who have forwarded this, they did not even check if it was authentic. I went through a very bad time, as neighbours were asking us about the message."
He added, "On WhatsApp we even circulated a message saying that the original message is a fake."
Meanwhile, the woman told dna that she was scared of using social networks, and had concluded that people should watch what they post about themselves online. "People should watch what pictures are being shared by their friends and relatives," she said.
Section 66A of the Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008, states that it is a criminal offence punishable by up to three years in jail for anyone who sends false information on the internet for "the purpose of causing annoyance... and insult..." among other malicious purposes.
Saju Jhon, senior police inspector, Thane cybercrime cell, said, "We have gotten the Facebook message deleted. The WhatsApp message, however, is not easy to track down-- WhatsApp does not have an India office. We are trying our level best to track down the origins of the message. Once we get a link to the original message, we will register a criminal case against the sender."
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