Balurghat, Nov. 8: A woman was arrested for allegedly taking photographs of a housewife on a cellphone while she was changing dress in a Gangarampur village and spreading the picture in the locality through MMS.
Dipika Sarkar, aged around 40, was produced in the subdivisional court in Gangarampur and remanded in judicial custody. Both the accused and the victim are residents of East Belbari.
Sarkar was arrested on the basis of an FIR lodged by the victim’s husband, a local businessman.
“Sarkar was a friend of my my wife and used to visit our house frequently. She took advantage of the friendship and snapped photos when my wife was changing her dress a few days ago. We came to know about the incident when unknown men called us up and made smutty comments. We made enquiries in the locality and found that my wife’s pictures was being spread through MMS among the villagers,” said the trader.
The trader and his 30-year-old wife suspected the involvement of Sarkar and named her in the complaint lodged with Gangarampur police last night. He claimed Sarkar had taken the photo without his wife’s knowledge.
Police sources said Sarkar had been charged under Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986, and Section 67 of Information Technology Act, 2007.
People of East Belbari, 30km from here, said Sarkar was married and she had a “bad reputation” in the area.
“She becomes close to other women and takes their snaps without permission. We apprehend that the accused might have taken the housewife’s photo to blackmail her,” said a villager.
Narayan Majumdar, the subdivisional police officer of Gangarampur, said they had started a probe to find out Sarkar’s motive behind the circulation of the picture.
“We have arrested a woman on the basis of a written complaint lodged by the husband of a housewife. She was produced in a court in Gangarampur. The police are investigating whether the accused is part of any racket or she spread the housewife’s racy picture for any personal reason,” said Majumdar.
The officer said the police were trying to identify the cyber-cafe from where the clipping had been sent.
The mobile phone, which Sarkar used to take the snap, has also been seized.
