NEW DELHI: Trishna Saikia (name changed) could not believe it when her best friend created a fake profile of her on a social networking site and sent derogatory messages to common friends in a bid to get back at Saikia for dating a boy she liked.

"She used my personal images and insulted me on a public forum," the victim related.

Like Saikia, many young girls and boys fall prey to online abuse and cyber bullying, which experts describe as "the intentional use of harmful words to put another person down."

"Cyber bullying is a typical type of online harassment, which can be defined as hurling harsh, rude, insulting, teasing remarks through the message box or in open forums targeting one's body shape and structure, educational qualifications, professional qualifications, family, gender orientation, personal habits and outlook," Debarati Halder, advocate and managing director, Centre for Cyber Victim Counselling, told IANS.

Online abuse was a larger term that may include cyber bullying, stalking, revenge, online defamation, leaking of private information and hacking."It is that sort of abuse which is carried out with the aid of cyber space," she said.

According to the 'Tweens, Teens and Technology 2014 Report' by McAfee, 50 percent of Indian youth have had some experience with cyber-bullying (been cyber-bullied online or witnessed others being so treated), out of which one-third (36 percent) have themselves been cyber-bullied.

It added that of the 33 percent said they have witnessed cyber-bullying of others, 46 percent said the victims deleted their social media accounts and 42 percent said the victims became less social, underscoring its significant emotional impact.