Delhi police arrest college student for stalking and harassing minor girl

Representative Image. Pic/iStock

A 17-year-old college student has been apprehended in Delhi for allegedly stalking and harassing a minor girl on Instagram after befriending her and forcing her to share nude pictures, police said on Friday.

The accused who is pursuing graduation from the School of Open Learning here, befriended the 14-year-old girl and threatened her to share nude pictures and asked for sexual favours lest he would circulate her already available private pictures on social media platforms, they said.

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The matter came to light when the victim's father approached the police and said that his daughter shared her private pictures and videos with someone through Instagram chats and was worried that the video might be circulated.

However, the victim's father was reluctant to initiate any legal action.

After counselling, the victim narrated her ordeal and disclosed that she had shared her private pictures and video with a friend on Instagram after which he began to pressurise her to indulge further in inappropriate chats and coerced her to send more such pictures, police said.

Based on the statement of the minor girl, a case was registered, they added.

During the investigation, the police got details of the alleged Instagram profile, including IP address and mobile number used for registering the profile. The details of the IP address was further obtained from concerned mobile operators and the identity of the alleged person was ascertained, said Sagar Singh Kalsi, Deputy Commissioner of Police (North).

After the police reached the address, it was discovered that the SIM card was registered under the name of the boy's father, he said.

As the boy was not found at home, his father was directed to produce him before the police.

"During the enquiry, the accused claimed that he came in possession of some private pictures of the girl and started following her on Instagram. He kept her private pictures saved on his mobile phone and used to stalk her online. After befriending her, he started asking for her nude photos, but when the girl did not agree to his demands, he told her that he has her private pictures already," the DCP said.

When his phone was checked it was found that he was also harassing other young girls through the same modus operandi, the police said.

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