Siblings booked for blackmailing, abetting suicide of 18-year-old Navi Mumbai girl

The men were related to the girl’s neighbour and they had been blackmailing her, saying they would share a video of her on social media if she denied them sexual favours. While the girl turned down their advances repeatedly, one of the men met her and had an argument with her a few hours before she died by suicide

NAVI MUMBAI: Two young men aged 22 and 20 years have been booked for blackmailing and abetting the suicide of an 18-year-old girl in December 2023. The men were related to the girl’s neighbour and they had been blackmailing her, saying they would share a video of her on social media if she denied them sexual favours. While the girl turned down their advances repeatedly, one of the men met her and had an argument with her a few hours before she died by suicide, which the parents claimed drove her to take the drastic step.

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The girl, who had completed junior college, lived in Koparkhairane in Navi Mumbai while her parents lived in Sangli. According to first information report, the parents last spoke to the girl on December 1, during the day, when she expressed her desire to pursue higher studies. But the same evening, they were informed that she was found hanging from the ceiling fan of the kitchen.

A few weeks after her death, the parents got to know that on the day she hung herself, one of the two young men met her in the afternoon, and they had a fight over some issue. This prompted the family to investigate further. When her elder brother accessed her laptop, he found screenshots of Instagram chats between her and the man who met and fought with her on the fateful day. The man was blackmailing her, saying he would make her video public and share the same with her mother if she did not have sex with her, but she continuously turned down his advances.

Apprehending that the exchange had something to with their daughter’s death, the parents approached the Koparkhairane police.

We will arrest the boys soon. Only after that, we can find out further details about the video and the reason behind the fight,” said a police officer.