17 June,2019 07:00 AM IST | Mumbai | Faizan Khan
The accused had been harassing the girl since 2016. Representation pic/Getty Images
The Powai police on Saturday arrested a man who formerly worked as a professor at a premier engineering institute in the city for allegedly sending lewd messages and videos to one of his ex-students. The accused, identified as Vijay Deshmukh, had been fired from the institute in 2018 following the student's complaint to its women's cell. But he resurfaced in her life recently after she returned from South Korea, following which she filed a police complaint against him.
According to the police, Deshmukh had been harassing the complainant since 2016. It started in November 2016, when the complainant got a message on Facebook from an account unknown to her saying, "can u make friendship with me? (sic)" to which she never responded. A few days later, she received a similar message and ignored it once again. "Then, during one of her practicals, she noticed Deshmukh and realised he could be the same person who had been sending messages to her; they were coming from an account with the same name as his. He would also stare at her all the time; some of her friends noticed this too," said a police officer from Powai police station.
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In January 2017, the accused sent her messages and poetry about love, after which the complainant blocked him. He then began sending her vulgar messages on her e-mail ID and created fresh accounts on Facebook to harass and stalk her. "The accused created another Facebook account and used a girl's image for his display picture, he also started sending her videos and voices messages. In July 2018, a year and a half after the harassment began, the girl complained to the women's cell of the institute," added the officer. Following an inquiry into the incident, Deshmukh was fired in May 2018 and the complainant was urged to file an FIR with the police. "At the time, no complaint was lodged with the police," said another officer.
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The complainant then went to South Korea in June 2018 for further studies. She returned to Mumbai in December 2018. "After she returned from Korea, the accused started sending her lewd messages once again. The girl then told her elder brother about the harassment she was facing," the officer added. An FIR was registered at Powai police station earlier this month under section 354 (d) (stalking) and 509 (Word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Information Technology Act.
On Saturday, cops nabbed Deshmukh from Wai in Satara district. They have seized his laptop and mobile phone and sent it for forensic analysis. During the primary investigation, cops have found all the vulgar messages and videos he'd sent to the complainant on his cell phone. Deshmukh was produced in the Bandra holiday magistrate court on Sunday and remanded in judicial custody till June 22.
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