Mumbai: Trio who secretly filmed women slapped with POCSO Act

The accused were sent to judicial custody. Representation pic

Three men, who are being probed for allegedly recording videos of women through windows and gaps in walls, have been slapped with the stringent Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The police have identified ten women and a minor in clips in the accused's possession and stated the number of victims could be higher.

According to the police, the incidents took place in 2019-2020 but the matter came to light recently when one of the accused, who resides at Darukhana in Sewri, had an argument with a local.

After realising that the accused was in possession of a video of his relative, the individual alerted her and the case reached the police.

Also Read: Mumbai: Three held for recording private videos of multiple women in Sewri

During the investigation, the police arrested Satish Harijan, 29; Stifen Nadar, 21; and Sarvana Harijan, 23; on charges of voyeurism and distributing obscene items along with sections of the Information Technology (IT) Act while one Ramesh Harijan, 26, was nabbed later for allegedly aiding the accused.

Satish and Ramesh Harijan are sweepers by profession while Stifen Nadar is a cleaner at a private company.

The quartet, who reside at Darukhana, were in police custody till Monday and were sent to judicial custody after completing 14 days in police remand.

The police have recovered over 30 videos of women from the accused's mobile phones and pen drives.

Earlier, it was believed that the accused had used these videos to extort and demand sexual favours from the victims.

Geeta Chavan, deputy commissioner of police, Port Zone, said, "I have personally met the women from the area and asked them to come forward if any of the accused had threatened them. However, none of the victims has so far complained about any such threats."