Accused, who befriended 17-year-old on social media and started demanding sexual favours, coaxed into coming to Mumbai and arrested
Illustration/Uday Mohite
ADVERTISEMENT
There's no shortage of Instagram creeps looking for 'fraandship' with unsuspecting girls, but at least one 17-year-old has been saved from the clutches of an online predator, thanks to the ingenious tactics of her mother and the Kherwadi police. Not only did the 27-year-old accused write vulgar messages, but he also shared obscene pictures and asked the girl to meet him for a sexual encounter. Not once did he suspect that he was chatting up the police and the girl's mum the entire time.
The story began last month, when Insta pervert Kailash Ghayal, 27, sent a follow request to a 17-year-old girl from Bandra East. The teenager accepted his request, and they started chatting. At the time, the girl had used a childhood photo as her profile picture. Her mother grew suspicious of this online friendship, and decided to find out what kind of person her daughter had befriended. Since the minor didn't have a phone of her own, she would chat on her mother's phone. It was easy for her mum to go through the entire chat, and she did not like what she found. She began chatting with the accused, posing as her daughter. It wasn't long before Ghayal started sending obscene photos and asking for sexual favours.
Kailash Ghayal
Honeytrap
Shocked, the mother reported the matter to the Kherwadi police on May 10. She told the police that Ghayal had not only sent vulgar messages, but was also asking to meet her daughter for sex. The cyber cell team from the Kherwadi police sprung into action, and took over from the mother. They started chatting with Ghayal and took the conversation ahead.
When he asked for a picture of his online lover, the police sent him a computer-generated image of a woman. Ghayal asked for more pictures, and they obliged. The accused liked what he saw, so he then suggested that they talk on the phone. This time, a woman officer posed as the girl. She persuaded the accused to visit her in Mumbai.
Nailed
Ghayal lived in Pune, where he had an administrative job at a real estate firm. Excited about the invitation, he arrived in Navi Mumbai on May 18. The lady cop who had been speaking to him asked him to share a selfie as well as his cell phone location to confirm he was in the city. She then asked him to meet her at Swaminarayan Mandir in Dadar.
Unbeknownst to him, the police were lying in wait to catch him. As soon as he arrived on the scene, they arrested him under Sections 354 (sexual harassment) and 509 (outraging a woman's modesty) of the IPC, along with Section 67(D) of the IT Act (publishing or transmitting obscene material).
"We have scanned his mobile and found that he was talking to more girls on Instagram. He would use the same modus operandi to harass them. He claimed he was a big man in Pune, with a lot of influential contacts. We found out he is an HSC-pass and was working at a builder's office," said an officer from the Kherwadi police. Ghayal got out on bail last week, but was summoned to Kherwadi police again on Wednesday for further interrogation. Senior Inspector Rajendra Patil, from Kherwadi police station, said, "We are conducting further investigations." They have also asked the Pune police to keep a close eye on Ghayal's activities.
Also Read: Pune: College Professor Demands Sexual Favours From Student In Exchange For More Marks
Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
