Ranchi: At least five young women, among whom one is a theatre artist, are terrified of their fake Facebook profiles with indecent pictures and comments created by unidentified persons.

This cyber torture - the fake IDs invite men for phone sex and worse - has been happening for a month.

Aged between 25 and 30 years, the educated girls from middle class families are too terrified to inform their families. On Wednesday, two of them wrote letters to Ranchi SSP Kuldeep Dwivedi and city Ranchi SP Aman Kumar and on Thursday and Friday they mustered up courage to visit Ranchi cyber police station but were asked to lodge complaints at their respective police stations and then approach cyber police with the URL of the said fake profiles.

The theatre artist said she had no proof if this was the handiwork of one person or a group. "But, it seems one tech-savvy person is at the helm of this. Fake IDs of five of our friends have been created, and maybe two more, but the latter are so scared that they have gone into hiding," she said. "We have informed the matter in writing to the SSP and city SP but nothing happened so far."

Her friend who works at a private nursing home added she was receiving dirty messages on WhatsApp from the number +966594704671. "What if our family members and neighbours come to know about the fake profiles?" the tribal girl asked.

She added that another friend of theirs - one of the five - who is preparing for Jharkhand Public Service Commission Mains exams, has gone into severe depression ever since this menace started.

Another said the cyber stalker was clever. "I got a friend request from my friend's fake Facebook profile. I didn't know it was fake, I thought she had a problem with her existing ID and accepted the request. Within a minute, dirty messages flooded my inbox. When I threatened legal action, he created my fake ID. Public posts are obscene and dirty messages are sent to our mutual friends," she said.

Another victim who lives on Ranchi fringes said she had sent her brother to the local thana with a complaint too. "My parents are ailing and my marriage has been fixed. If my prospective in-laws come to know about this, my future is finished. Please help us," she cried.

The thana OC confirmed the girl's brother had come but said no FIR had been lodged. "When we told her brother to bring her along to record her statement he refused. On our end the case is open," the officer said.

DSP of cyber police station Shradha Kerketta said she had no information that these girls had visited her thana. "They can contact me directly," she said. "But, under new rules, the complainant can approach the thana concerned. The cyber police station only provides necessary technical support."

Ranchi city SP Aman Kumar said he was aware of the case but the cyber thana fell under the CID's jurisdiction. "From my end, I can say the police contact websites with URL details to block the user and remove content. Their complaints will be entertained and necessary actions will be taken soon," he promised.

Are our cyber thanas equipped against virtual crimes? Tell ttkhand@abpmail.com