Man arrested for stalking, defaming make-up artiste in south Mumbai

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The police arrested a 40-year-old man for allegedly stalking, defaming, harassing and creating fake social media accounts of a make-up artiste in south Mumbai, after she refused to accept his friend request on Facebook.

According to the police, the 38-year-old woman works for a leading modeling firm, a report in the Indian Express read. Police said the accused Praful Mahadik, had sent her a friend request in 2016, but she did not accept it and blocked him. The report said the accused then kept creating new accounts and sending her friend requests.

He told police that in 2006, when he worked at a Malad firm, he had seen the woman at a corporate park and sent her a friend request. But, she did not accept his repeated requests, which angered him and he decided to defame her, police said.

Mahadik then began creating fake profiles of her. "He created two profiles on Facebook and two on Instagram. He did it with an intention to defame her, as he posted her pictures on the social media accounts with a message suggesting her family is involved in flesh trade," a police officer was quoted in the report as saying.

The accused also sent the woman's friends vulgar messages from the fake accounts and she found out about it.

During investigation, police started looking for the IP address of the accused and they managed to get his phone number. The report said police traced the accused to his residence in Ambivali and arrested him. He was produced in court and has been remanded in police custody.

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