Bhubaneswar: A 20-year-old girl in Khurdha district has accused her computer teacher of circulating her nude photographs and videos on social media for declining his marriage proposal. Jankia police have started an investigation after the victim lodged a formal complaint.

According to the complaint, the girl studied in a computer coaching centre in Narangarh area and was allegedly drugged, stripped and filmed by the teacher of the institute. The victim alleged that the teacher forced her to marry him and blackmailed her by showing the videos and pictures he had captured. He even threatened to post them online. "When I rejected his marriage proposal, he posted the pictures on various social media platforms," the victim said.

The police said the pictures and videos were taken two months ago. "The accused was not at home when we raided his house. We are trying to trace the teacher and we also urge people not to circulate the videos and photographs," said inspector in charge of Jankia police station M. Senapati. Sharing intimate videos and pictures of girls on various social networking platforms has turned into a menace in the state. In January, the police issued an advisory for public along with a standard operating procedure for the cops to take up investigation in cases related to sharing of nude videos and photographs in cyber space.

According to police statistics, 73 cases related to circulation of nude photographs and videos were registered in 2016, the number went up to 184 in 2017. Thirty-one such cases were registered by March this year. The police have also arrested 126 accused in 2016 and 2017 in connection with such cases.

Babies rescued

Two infants - a boy and a girl - were rescued in separate incidents in Jajpur and Ganjam districts. In the first incident, some local people spotted a newborn girl dumped near a bush at Salepur village of Dharmashala block in Jajpur district and informed Childline officials. In a similar incident, local people found a baby boy abandoned near a bush at Sorada village in Buguda police limits later in the morning.