CHENNAI: Workplace resentment took an ugly turn as a woman morphed her senior co-worker's photo by misusing AI and circulated it to her colleagues via fake Instagram profiles.
The Tamil Nadu police's cyber crime wing arrested her after a complaint.
Several employees at the complainant's company received a follow request from an unknown profile on January 4, which then circulated objectionable and defamatory content, including morphed images of the victim, the police said.
The State Cyber Crime Investigation Centre (SCCIC) at the cyber crime headquarters registered a case, and after analysing the digital footprints, the accused was traced.
"The investigation established that the accused had deliberately misused social media platforms to threaten, harass, and publicly humiliate the victim as an act of revenge. Upon arrest, it was found that the accused is a woman and a former employee of the same organisation where the victim holds a senior position," an official release stated.
The accused had resigned from the firm in October 2025 and fell into depression. Driven by resentment, she morphed the photos of the victim by downloading her photos from the official website of their company and doctored the photos using various Artificial Intelligence applications, which she then circulated through fake profiles, police said.
The accused was produced before a magistrate and remanded in judicial custody.
Sandeep Mittal, DGP, Cyber Crime Wing, cautioned citizens to use social media platforms responsibly and warned that cyber harassment through social media is punishable.
"The public is urged to safeguard their personal data and privacy online. Avoid sharing sensitive information, images, or videos that could be misused for malicious purposes. Victims of cyber harassment, impersonation, defamation or online abuse should report incidents immediately through official cyber crime reporting channels (NCRP) to enable timely investigation and action," the DGP stated.