A 29-year-old man in Odisha has been arrested for allegedly posting several morphed, "obscene" photographs and videos of a state minister and a girl on different websites, an official said on Friday.
Few years back, Sidharth Shankar Pati had approached an astrologer seeking advice on whether he should pursue his studies in science or arts.
Though the astrologer had told him that he would do well if he took up science, he failed in the examination.
13 years later, Pati an unemployed youth with a diploma in electrical engineering, continued to hold a grudge against the astrologer.
With the intention of seeking revenge, Pati, a resident of Jaypore in Koraput district, collected the photographs of the astrologer’s daughter, allegedly doctored them with photographs of Rabi Narayan Nanda, state school and mass education minister and them on various websites a few months ago.
When the obscene pictures came to the notice of Nanda, also a MLA from Jaypore, he lodged a complaint with the cyber crime police in Cuttack on February 22.
“During the course of investigation we found prima facie evidence against Pati and arrested him from Cuttack on Thursday. Pati has admitted that he morphed the girl’s photographs with those of the minister to take revenge on her father,” said AK Nayak, inspector in charge of the state's lone cyber crime police station in Cuttack.
{{/usCountry}}“During the course of investigation we found prima facie evidence against Pati and arrested him from Cuttack on Thursday. Pati has admitted that he morphed the girl’s photographs with those of the minister to take revenge on her father,” said AK Nayak, inspector in charge of the state's lone cyber crime police station in Cuttack.
{{/usCountry}}Pati has been booked under Sections 465 (forgery), 469 (forgery for the purpose of harming reputation), 500 (defamation), 294 (obscene acts and songs) of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 66-A, 67, 67-A of the Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008.
Pati’s family members however claimed Pati’s act might not be intentional as he was a psychiatric patient.
“He has been undergoing treatment in hospital,” his father said.