Social media has its uses. Not least among them is as an investigative tool. A report in mid-day yesterday brought to light exactly this use of the popular social media tool, Instagram. The instant gratification and anonymity that instagram affords its users is a huge reason for its popularity. The report has the case of a 15-year-old student who was sexually assaulted by her classmate after he tricked her into coming to his house.

The case would probably never have been solved because there were no witnesses and the girl would quite likely have never have told anyone about it. The only reason it did come to light was thanks to the boy's communication with the girl on her Instagram chat, which came to her mother's attention. The wise mother, instead of reacting in anger at that moment, pretended to be her daughter and got the boy to incriminate himself. Fortunately, the damning evidence was enough to convince the police who have sent the teenager to a correction home for his heinous crime.