17-year-old rapes, blackmails girl he met on Instagram; arrested

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The Kopar Khairane police recently arrested a 17-year-old for allegedly raping a 15-year-old girl he befriended on Instagram in December 2019.

The incident came to light on January 17 after the girl was reported missing and a case of kidnapping was registered, a Times of India report read. The police found the girl at Vadodara railway station on the same day.

The report said the girl told the police that she had run away from home, as she was being blackmailed by the accused. She said the 17-year-old had recorded a video of their 'sexual act' on his phone and he threatened to make it viral if she did not steal Rs 2.5 lakh from her home and share her father's credit card details with him.

Inspector Nishikant Vishwakar, was quoted as saying, "The accused has been booked for rape under the Posco Act, criminal intimidation, blackmail and unauthorised transactions using card and debit card details of the girl's father."

Vishwakar said the accused bought an expensive phone and an Apple watch online. He said the teenager would conduct the online transactions after midnight, when the girl's parents were alseep as he needed the OTPs.

The police added that the girl's father had thought his credit card had been blocked and even filed a complaint with the cyber crime cell. After the girl was traced and narrated her ordeal, her father filed another complaint.

"Apart from rape, the accused was also booked under the IT Act for unauthorised transactions using card details of the girl's father," Vishwakar said. The police have seized the teen's phone and found videos of the girl with him. The accused has been sent to a juvenile home in Bhiwandi.

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