Man blackmails minor with nude video, rapes her, held

MUMBAI: The Bhandup police have arrested a 27-year-old worker and are on the lookout for two of his friends after they allegedly raped and molested a 17-year-old girl by blackmailing to circulate a video of her, which had been clandestinely shot while she was bathing.

The accused was sent to police custody till July 6 by a sessions court.

Bhandup police said the girl is a Class 12 student. On May 21, she went to her village with her mother to attend her relative’s wedding. The arrested accused, who is her friend, had also attended the wedding and clandestinely shot a video while she was bathing.

After returning to Mumbai the arrested accused showed the video to the girl and threatened he would circulate it if she did not give in to his demands. He then raped her two to three times at his house, police said.

The accused then showed the video to two of his friends, who also sexually assaulted the survivor. The girl then became scared and confided in her mother, who decided to approach the police.

Bhandup police registered an FIR earlier this week under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code for repeated rape, molestation and voyeurism and under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The accused were also booked under sections 4 (penetrative sexual assault), 8 (sexual assault) and 12 (sexual harassment of a child) of the POCSO Act. “We are also investigating if the accused have blackmailed any more minors using the same modus,” said a police official.

Senior police inspector of Bhandup police station, Shrinivas Panhale, said, “The accused has been remanded to police custody. The accused as well as the survivor have been subjected to a medical test. We are trying to trace the other two accused.”