Goutam Pandit. Picture by Badrika Nath Das

Cuttack, Sept. 12: Cyber cops have finally arrested a 23-year-old youth accused of defaming a Rourkela college girl on a social networking website, almost nine months after a case was registered.

Goutam Pandit, an unemployed youth from Balasore, was arrested for allegedly uploading and circulating a number of morphed obscene photographs of the 21-year-old girl on Facebook. He had been staying at Chhendbasti in Rourkela.

Sources said the accused had created a fake profile of the victim, who had turned down his marriage proposal. Pandit used to threaten the girl, saying he would burn her face by throwing acid on her.

Following these threats, the girl’s family had lodged a police complaint. The accused was, however, let off with a warning after he had signed an undertaking not to disturb the girl or assault her.

However, Pandit was determined to avenge the insult of being turned down by the girl and uploaded morphed pictures of her by creating a fake Facebook account. He also allegedly posted many vulgar comments about the victim.

The matter came to light after friends of the girl informed her about the derogatory posts. The girl then lodged another complaint with the cyber police station in Cuttack on December 31 last year.

“Based on a series of technical investigations, we have arrested the accused and he was produced before the sub-divisional judicial magistrate’s court in Balasore today,” said additional director general (crime branch) B.K. Sharma.