Noida: Woman’s morphed photos shared in office chat group, three arrested

Three employees of a private firm in Noida — including the human resources (HR) manager and the security in-charge — have been arrested for allegedly threatening a 20-year-old woman employee after she complained that her colleagues had digitally morphed her photos and shared them with lewd comments in an office WhatsApp group, police said on Thursday.

The woman alleged that when she raised the matter with the HR and tried to involve the police, the company conspired to fire her. A fourth accused is currently absconding, police said.

According to her complaint filed with the police onApril 29, the incident dates back to April 11, when she discovered that two colleagues had digitally altered her photographs and circulated them with vulgar remarks among other staff.

“They wrote lewd comments about me and circulated them on a WhatsApp group in the office,” she stated in her complaint, accessed by HT.

Police said that when she approached the security in-charge and the HR manager, she was initially asked to “compromise” and not escalate the issue.

“Later, when she kept pressing for action, they dismissed her allegations and blocked her from company systems and fire her after misbehaving with her,” said Sector 142 station house officer (SHO) Vinod Kumar Mishra.

Despite continued pressure to withdraw her complaint, the woman eventually approached the Sector 142 police station. An FIR was registered on April 29 under Sections 352(2) (criminal intimidation) and 352 (intentional insult) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with relevant sections of the IT Act.

Hridesh Katheriya, additional deputy commissioner of police, central Noida, said, “During investigation, if any such allegations were made regarding sexual harassment, then we will add the relevant sections to the FIR.”

“We have arrested three suspects — the HR manager, the security in-charge (both in their 40s), and an employee in his 30s who morphed the photographs. Efforts are on to trace the fourth accused,” said Mishra, adding that further investigation is underway. Investigators also recovered digital evidence from the WhatsApp group.

Gautam Budh Nagar’s district provisional officer, Manoj Pushpak, said the company will be issued a notice and checked for compliance with the Prevention of Sexual Harassment (POSH) Act. “We will verify if they have a POSH committee and how the woman’s complaint was handled. If there’s a violation, strict action will follow,” he said.

Repeat phone calls, messages and emails sent to the company and its representatives did not elicit a response.

HT is withholding the names of the accused and the company to protect the woman’s identity.