Obsessed Delhi teacher fakes cancer, death, and uses occult to gain principal’s attention

The woman was arrested for allegedly forging the fellow teacher’s social media account, adding her morphed photos using AI tools and widely circulating them

Obsessed with her former teacher, who is now the principal of a government school in north Delhi’s Sadar Bazar, a 22-year-old contractual teacher allegedly went to extreme lengths to gain her attention, including faking a cancer diagnosis and her own death, resorting to occult practices, and creating a fake social media profile of a fellow teacher.

A senior police officer said the case came to light after receiving a complaint in late August from a 25-year-old woman, a resident of north Delhi and a teacher at the same school.(Raj K Raj/HT/ Representational)

Deputy commissioner of police (North) Raja Banthia said the woman, a resident of north Delhi, was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly forging the fellow teacher’s social media account, adding her morphed photos using AI tools and widely circulating them.

A senior police officer said the case came to light after receiving a complaint in late August from a 25-year-old woman, a resident of north Delhi and a teacher at the same school. The complainant alleged that someone had created a fake Instagram account in her name, uploading morphed photographs and sending follow requests to students and staff with the intent to defame her.

Based on the complaint, a case was registered on September 6 under sections 319 (cheating), 336(2) (forgery), and 356(2) (defamation) of the BNS. Within hours, investigators traced the accused woman through IP logs, registered emails, and mobile numbers.

The accused was brought in for questioning. It was revealed that she had taught at the school for a brief period (on contract) in 2022 and had been a student there as well, the investigator said.

“Initially, she tried to mislead the investigation by telling us that her own fake profiles had been created by someone but digital evidence established her role in creating the profiles, editing the photos and uploading them,” Banthia said, adding that she was arrested on Wednesday.

Investigation further revealed that the principal was once her teacher, whom she viewed as a “mentor” during her school days. When the school needed a Sanskrit teacher in 2022, they hired the woman on contract for a brief period. “She was always in touch with her “mentor” who became the school’s principal in June this year. In fact, the calls and messages were so frequent and erratic that the principal’s husband told her to back off and not entertain her so much. Thereafter, the principal stopped talking to her. This made the woman very anxious,” the officer said.

Anxious at being ignored, the accused first created a video faking a cancer diagnosis and sent it to students and teachers of the school, hoping that the principal would see it and call her. When that failed, she faked her own death, sharing her photo with a garland among staff and students. But that too did not elicit a response from the principal, said police.

Later, learning that a fellow teacher was close to the principal, she created a fake social media profile of that teacher, morphing photos with AI tools, hoping to provoke a reaction. Delhi police said she also engaged in occult practices, with investigators recovering three chits containing cryptic symbols, numbers, and the names of herself and the principal.

Further investigation is on.