28-yr-old held for stalking, blackmailing woman: Police

The accused had been allegedly pressuring the woman to continue their relationship and fulfil sexual demands by threatening to make her personal content public.

A 28-year-old man from Uttar Pradesh was arrested on Saturday for allegedly stalking, blackmailing, and threatening to circulate private photographs and videos of his 20-year-old relative, police said on Sunday.

28-yr-old held for stalking, blackmailing woman: Police

The accused, police said, had been allegedly pressuring the woman to continue their relationship and fulfil sexual demands by threatening to make her personal content public.

The case came to light after the victim’s 19-year-old brother lodged a complaint with the Cyber Police Station of northwest Delhi on July 25, said deputy commissioner of police (northwest) Bhisham Singh. The complaint alleged that a relative from Bulandshahr had sent him sexually explicit images and videos of his sister on Instagram.

According to the police, the families of both the victim and the accused had learned about their relationship about one-and-a-half years ago and objected to it. The woman subsequently ended the relationship and cut off the accused. However, he continued harassing her.

When his attempts failed, the accused escalated his threats by sending the explicit content to the victim’s brother via Instagram using the “View Once” feature, which typically makes media disappear after being viewed once. However, the brother recorded the objectionable content on his mother’s mobile phone and presented it as evidence.

DCP Singh said that based on the complaint, an FIR was registered on July 27 under Section 67A of the Information Technology Act (for publishing or transmitting sexually explicit material in electronic form). Police arrested the accused on Saturday and seized the mobile phone used in the crime.