Maharashtra: Two held for sending obscene pictures, videos to girl
Mumbai Police has arrested two persons from the neighboring Thane district for allegedly sexually harassing a 10-year-old girl by sending obscene pictures and videos to her through social messaging platforms, an official said on Saturday. The two accused had also forced the minor to share her nude pictures and videos with them and threatened to kill her parents if she failed to do so.
Accused indulged in voyeurism through social messaging apps: Victim's father
"The accused duo has been identified as Sunny Bhajanlal Janiyani (29) and Ajay Tukaram Mhatre (30), both residents of Bhiwandi," police said. The incident came to light on Thursday afternoon, when the father of the girl approached Meghwadi Police Station with the complaint that two unidentified persons were sexually harassing his daughter and indulging in voyeurism through social messaging apps.
Victim received obscene photos when she logged into Snapchat app
"The girl's parents had provided a smartphone to her for online classes and studies," police said. When she logged into her account on the Snapchat app, she received obscene photos and videos from an unidentified person. The accused started sending pictures and videos repeatedly to her and also gave her number to his friend, who also did the same thing on Snapchat and WhatsApp.
Accused started forcing her to send nude pictures and video
The victim got scared but didn't tell about it to anybody. However, the accused soon started forcing the girl to send her nude pictures and videos and threatened to kill her parents. After that, the girl told her parents about it.
One of them was arrested from Bhiwandi, another from Thane
DCP Datta Nalawade (Detection-1) said that based on the complaint, police launched a probe and after technical analysis, the mobile number of one of the accused was traced to Bhiwandi. "Accordingly a crime branch team led by inspector Maheshkumar Thakur went to Bhiwandi and apprehended one of the accused and as per the information given by him, nabbed another one from Thane," he added.
FIR under relevant IPC sections was registered against the accused
"It came to light that both the accused ran a business of cattle food supply," he said. "An FIR under IPC Sections 354(A) (sexual harassment), 354 (C) ((voyeurism), 354 (D) (stalking), 506 (2) (criminal intimidation), and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and Sections of the IT Act was registered against the accused at Meghwadi Police Station," the official said.
