Bhubaneswar: Social media is making for some most anti-social activities in the Odisha capital recently.
Bhubaneswar men are being increasingly framed for rape by women they befriend online.
Police said this is a ploy to extort money and there have been 22 such cases of blackmail in the past one year.
In the most recent case, a 32-year-old woman had accused a senior citizen of sexual assault in the city’s Khandagiri area. Following an investigation, police found that the woman had demanded Rs 5 lakh from the 62-year-old man and threatened to lodge a rape case against him if he didn’t pay up.
The woman filed a police complaint after the victim refused to give in to her blackmail.
Police said the elderly victim felt lonely as his children were settled abroad. He befriended the woman on social media and also met her at public places.
Investigators found the man was being framed and let him go without pressing charges. They also let off the fake complainant after a scolding at the police station.
Police said according to law, they are bound to register a case after a woman complains of rape. But later investigations reveal that many men are implicated by female “victims” to extort money, they added.
Police also blamed the men for not checking the credentials of women they befriend on social media sites. This makes them vulnerable to such false cases of rape.
Sometimes, the woman and her intended victim have consensual sex too. In some cases, the honey trapped men pay money to their blackmailers to avoid social embarrassment and police action.
Notably, police had recently arrested a 26-year-old woman for allegedly duping a software engineer in Bhubaneswar of Rs 6.5 lakh by creating a fake profile on Facebook. Police said the accused is a Plus II dropout, butt impersonated as a medical student on Fakebook.
Also Read: Fooled On Facebook: Woman Cons Techie Of Rs 6.5 Lakh In Odisha Capital
