20-year-old man from Thane arrested for sexually assaulting, knifing Nagpur-based minor girl

Investigators say the two met online last year, and soon began sharing sexually-explicit messages and photographs

Nagpur: A 20-year-old student of Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) from Mumbai was arrested in the early hours of Tuesday by the Nagpur police for allegedly kidnapping, sexually assaulting and repeatedly knifing a Class 12 girl whom he had befriended on Instagram.

Image for representation (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The accused who lives in Thane is the son of a prominent doctor couple and the nephew of a senior IPS officer. He befriended the girl, the daughter of a well-placed revenue officer, in May last year on Instagram when she was just 16. He had created a fake account identifying himself as Akash Mehra, which is not his real name.

On Sunday, when she had not returned home for nearly 24 hours and with her phone switched off, her concerned parents approached the police in Nagpur. What unfolded next is a tale of coercion, sexual and physical violence and bullying.

When the police reached a flat at Dighori, a neighbourhood in south Nagpur, after a 20-hour-long hunt they found the survivor in the nude and tied to a bed crying helplessly while her abductor stood over her head with a belt in his hand. A knife on the bedside had been used to slash her repeatedly. The severely-traumatised girl was rescued and taken to Government Medical College and Hospital for treatment and the 20-year-old man, since identified as Nirmay Madhav Pakhare, was arrested and taken to Hudkeshwar police station.

Investigators say the two met online last year, and soon began sharing sexually-explicit messages and photographs. Subsequently the man travelled to Nagpur where he spent a day with the minor girl at a hotel. But after this encounter, he began coercing her to continue their sexual relationship and threatened to release her photographs online if she did not comply.

He also rented a flat at Dighori where he met her at least once before last week. Police said the accused took the survivor to the rented flat on Sunday morning, where she was allegedly confined for over 24 hours until she was rescued in a dramatic police raid in the early hours of Tuesday. During this period, she was allegedly subjected to repeated sexual assault, forced into perverse sexual acts, filmed and continuously blackmailed. During the search, police seized handcuffs, sex toys, leather belts and other articles from the flat, all believed to have been purchased online.

The rescue operation was launched after the survivor’s father lodged a kidnapping complaint at the Hudkeshwar police station when she failed to return home for over 20 hours. The police began their investigation by analysing the girl’s Instagram chats and other digital footprints and then using that, they traced the accused to his Thane residence and contacted his family. Acting on Nagpur police’s request, Thane police asked the accused’s mother to call him so that they could find his location. As soon as Pakhare answered the phone, cyber experts narrowed down his location to the Dighori area. Realising that the police might be closing in, the accused allegedly forced the captive girl to call her parents and assure them that she was safe. That call provided investigators with another crucial lead. They tracked an online food delivery executive heading to the same address and discreetly followed him to the rented apartment before launching the late-night raid.

Police are now scrutinising the accused’s Instagram account, mobile phones and other electronic devices to determine whether the crime was premeditated and whether he may have targeted other women in a similar manner.

Senior Inspector Anamika Mirzapure said the accused has been remanded to two days of police custody for questioning. His parents, both doctors, reached Nagpur from Thane on Tuesday after learning about the allegations. “We are investigating whether the accused was involved in similar offences in the past. His Instagram account, mobile phones and other digital devices are being examined,” Mirzapure said.

She added that an extensive forensic investigation has been launched with the assistance of the Regional Forensic Science Laboratory. “Electronic devices recovered from the flat are being examined, while DNA samples, fingerprints and other forensic evidence are being meticulously collected. They will play a crucial role in the investigation.” Pakhare’s parents were unavailable for comment as they refused to answer their phones and neither did they respond to messages.