MUMBAI: In a rare case a 45-year-old woman in Mumbai, Maharashtra has filed a case against her former live- in girlfriend, aged 45, for uploading a nude picture of her on social media. A sessions court on Monday rejected an anticipatory bail plea by the woman against whom the complaint has been filed. The two women were in a relationship for more than ten years and work in the pathology department of a reputed private hospital in the western suburbs. This was the first such case to be registered by the Mumbai Police, said a senior police official. Navghar Police station registered the FIR, Mulund (E) on February 4, 2017. Police registered a case under Indian Penal Code sections 354 (outraging the modesty of a woman), 506 (criminal intimidation) 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) and under the Information Technology Act. The women had worked together for a long period before becoming close friends, Policeman investigating the case said. One of them was married and after her marriage ended, their bond grew stronger. The couple started living in Mulund. Navghar Police said, “Six months ago they started having trouble in their relationship”. The complainant allegedly learnt that the accused was using her pictures and passing them off as her own on Facebook for over two years. The victim told Police that on November 21 last year, she noticed that the accused had put up her nude picture as her Whatsapp display status. When she confronted the accused about it; she was allegedly told that the pictures were taken when she was in the bathroom the previous day, the victim said. They two women got into a fight after which the accused threatened to malign her by circulating the pictures and left the house, the victim further said. The victim claimed that later she pleaded with the accused, but the latter refused to relent. As there was no other go the victim finally filed a Police complaint on February 4. I am innocent, the accused told the court. Police have opposed the anticipatory bail plea on the grounds that the mobile phone was yet to be recovered and as the two women worked in the same place, there were chances that the accused could influence witnesses. A Police officer said, ” We wanted to arrest her today (Monday) after her anticipatory bail was rejected, but since we cannot arrest a woman after sunset, we will wait until Tuesday”.]]>
