Balasore, July 7: The town police today arrested a man for allegedly circulating an obscene MMS featuring his wife.

The arrest of Ratikanta Barik, 24, of Suelpur village followed a complaint by his wife.

He was sent to jail after his bail plea was rejected by the court.

The 19-year-old victim, who had married recently, lodged a compliant with police stating the accused had been blackmailing her.

He had threatened that he would make her nude video public if she failed to meet his dowry demands.

“We tracked him down immediately following the compliant of the victim,” said Rajesh Kumar, the superintendent of police.

The wife, in her FIR, had alleged that she was being mentally and physically tortured by her husband for more dowry.

“We have arrested the husband and a case has been registered under sections 498(a), 294, 323, 506 and 34 of IPC, 4 Dowry Prevention (DP) Act and section 292 (circulating obscene images) of IPC and section 6 (indecent representation of women),” said inspector in-charge of town police station Pravat Chandra Panigrahi.

The swift police action has brought relief to the victim as well as her parents.

“The victims generally take drastic steps in such cases. The prompt police action would help in arresting further damage to the reputation of all including the victim and her relatives,” saidAparna Mohapatra, a social activist. Sources said nude video clips of the victim, which included her name and address, of nearly 77 seconds, had been in circulation in the town for nearly 10 days.

The MMS spread quickly moving from one mobile phone, thumb drive and other storage devices to another.

The victim, who lost her father under mysterious circumstances, had married the accused following a love affair last December. However, within a a few weeks of the marriage, the couple’s relationship became strained.

The victim left the husband and had been staying in her parental house at Gopalgaon of Balasore town.