Women’s rights activist in Bengaluru faces sexual harassment after accepting FB friend request | Bengaluru News

Bengaluru: A 34-year-old women’s rights activist from north Bengaluru faced disturbing sexual harassment online after unknowingly accepting a friend request from a fake Facebook profile. Meghana (name changed), a resident of T Dasarahalli and president of a Mahila Sangha that works for women’s welfare and justice, was subjected to harassment recently by an online predator, who misused technology to target her.The incident began late at night, around 11.45pm, when Meghana received a Facebook friend request from a profile named ‘Lovely Archana’. The profile photo was that of a colleague from Chitradurga district. Believing it to be genuine, Meghana accepted the request. Moments later, she received a Facebook video call from the same account.Assuming her friend needed help, she answered the call. To her horror, she was confronted by a stranger appearing nude on camera, deliberately flashing his private parts while hiding his face. Shocked and frightened, she immediately ended the call and handed the phone to her husband, who was nearby.The harassment didn’t end there. The miscreant continued to call her repeatedly and sent her explicit nude photos via Facebook. When Meghana’s husband tried to confront the caller by answering one of the video calls, the man remained silent. Sensing their attempt to document the evidence, he quickly deleted the nude photos he had sent. After being blocked on Facebook, he uploaded Meghana’s photo as his profile picture and started making video and regular calls on WhatsApp from the number 9003490931.The perpetrator continued to call and message her again on July 9. However, she refrained from engaging and blocked the number.Meghana has now filed a complaint. A case has been registered under relevant sections of the Information Technology Act. Efforts are under way to trace the identity and location of the offender.