25 December,2019 07:35 AM IST | Mumbai | Diwakar Sharma
Jeetu Soni
The minor step-son of a businessman arrested by Indore police on Sunday from Malad, lodged an FIR against him and his friend on Monday with the Malad police, for sexually abusing him. The Indore police had arrested the Mumbai-based businessman in a rape case, and for assisting his journalist friend Jeetu Soni in a human trafficking case. Police are looking for Soni.
The mother of the survivor married the businessman after her husband died in a road accident. The survivor in his complaint has said that he was sexually abused whenever his mother was not at home. "His step-father would often inch closer to him, touch him inappropriately and show him porn videos on his cell phone," said an officer attached to the Malad police station.
"The minor boy told us that the businessman would often ask him to act like the porn-star in the videos and force him to indulge in oral sex with him. The accused recorded the act on his cell phone but kept his face hidden in the video clip. One day, the minor alleged, his step father's friend Jeetu Soni also touched him inappropriately when his step-father had forced him into having oral sex with him," said the officer.
The Mumbai police, as well as their Indore counterparts, have intensified their hunt to nab Soni, who has been booked in nearly four dozen cases by Indore police in the past one month.
"The abuse was allegedly on since October 2016 but the minor boy did not tell anyone as he had been threatened with dire consequences. He has also named the friend of his step-father. We have booked the duo under relevant sections of IPC and the POCSO Act," said an officer from Malad police station.
The officer said that when his elder brother noticed something and confronted their step-father, he threatened the siblings with a gun.
Senior Inspector of Malad police station George Fernandes said, "The accused businessman is booked in similar offences in past and this is the fourth case against him. We are investigating the matter."
The Malad police have registered a case under sections 377 (unnatural offence), 509 (insulting the modesty of a woman), 506 (2) (criminal intimidation) and 34 (common intention) of Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
The Superintendent of Police, HQ, Indore police, Suraj Verma, told mid-day that Soni, the publisher of an Indore eveninger, Sanjha Lokswami, is wanted in multiple cases including blackmail, extortion, cheating, human trafficking, rape, etc. "We arrested Soni's associate from Malad on Sunday but he is yet to be arrested. Soni is a history-sheeter who is wanted in nearly four dozen serious cases registered against him at Indore," Verma said. He said Soni owns, my home, a bar, and restaurant in Indore where he indulges in illegal activities. Soni also has illegal properties in Indore and in Maharashtra and Gujarat.
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