Thrissur boy ends life in Kasaragod lodge amid probe into morphed nude image of classmate

Kasaragod: A Class 10 boy who went missing from Thrissur district was found dead in a lodge in Kasaragod town while cyber police were investigating the circulation of a morphed nude photograph of his classmate from a fake Instagram account.

The Thrissur Rural Police Cyber Station traced a Gmail account linked to the fake Instagram profile to the 15-year-old boy but had not established that he was behind the account or sent the image. “We questioned his elder brother but never got to interview the boy. Before that, he went missing,” said Byju K C, Station House Officer of the Thrissur Rural Police Cyber Station.

The cyber probe began after the family of a schoolgirl at a private school in Padinjare Vemballur in Thrissur's Sreenarayanapuram grama panchayat complained that her photograph had been misused to create a morphed nude image. The image was sent to her friend, who studies at the same school. She immediately alerted the girl whose photograph was misused, the officer said.

The cyber police obtained details from Instagram and found a Gmail ID associated with the account. Tracing the email account led them to a mobile number belonging to the boy’s elder brother. When the police contacted him, he said his younger brother had been using the Gmail account. “We don't know that for certain,” Inspector Byju said when asked whether the boy had sent the image.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the boy’s family approached the Kodungallur police saying their son was missing. According to the family, he left home around 6.15 am to attend tuition but did not reach the centre, go to school or return home.

Kasaragod Town Police said that the boy checked into a lodge near the KSRTC bus station on Wednesday evening. Lodge staff found him dead in his room on Thursday evening. "We found his ID card on him and informed his family and the Kodungallur police," said an officer at Kasaragod Town Police.

Inspector Byju suspected that the boy’s family might have spoken to him after police contacted his adult elder brother. “Perhaps something was discussed at home, and something might have happened as a result,” he said.