A 37-year-old businessman was arrested by Delhi Police on Thursday for allegedly blackmailing, harassing and sexually exploiting a 25-year-old woman on social media for over three years, said police on Friday.
The woman met the accused on Instagram in 2021 and became friends. The woman alleged that she was coerced into sharing private photos and videos unaware that the accused was married, said police.
“After a few months, she started receiving threats, extortion demands and abusive messages from unknown people who used multiple fake Instagram accounts and email accounts. She suspected the accused and confronted him but he told her that his laptop, where their chats were stored, was with a technician who must have stolen the data,” said a senior police officer.
“The woman faced abuse and harassment for years as the accused created fake accounts, used her private photos, demanded money and extorted ₹1 lakhs from her,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) (Shahdara) Prashant Gautam.
“He then forced her to perform inappropriate acts on Instagram and Google Meet video calls. The woman was scared to approach the police or tell her family as the accused threatened to kidnap and attack her and her family with acid. The accused even issued fake legal threats to the woman saying he will get her named as an accused in a murder case,” said DCP Gautam.
{{/usCountry}}“He then forced her to perform inappropriate acts on Instagram and Google Meet video calls. The woman was scared to approach the police or tell her family as the accused threatened to kidnap and attack her and her family with acid. The accused even issued fake legal threats to the woman saying he will get her named as an accused in a murder case,” said DCP Gautam.
{{/usCountry}}Investigators said the woman approached the police on Wednesday after she suspected that the accused was behind the extortion and fake legal threats.
“The accused used nine Instagram accounts to harass the woman. We also found the Gmail account which he used. Upon inquiry, we received responses from Meta and Google about the phone number which belonged to his mother. We also found evidence using technical surveillance,” said DCP Gautam.
The accused was arrested and was sent to judicial custody. Investigators said they seized two of his mobile phones which contained private photos of the victim. They are also examining his laptop.
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