Mumbai man booked for sexual assault, circulating video: Police

A 20-year-old man was booked for sexually assaulting a girl three years ago and circulating the video of the assault

The Cuffe Parade police on Thursday booked a 20-year-old man for sexually assaulting his friend at another friend’s birthday party three years ago and circulating the videos of the assault on Snapchat, police said.

A 20-year-old man was booked for sexually assaulting a girl three years ago. (Representational image)

The man, who was then 17, and a student at one of south Mumbai’s top schools, met the girl in February 2020 at a friend’s house at Cuffe Parade for a birthday party, police said, adding that during the party, the accused took the victim into the bathroom where he sexually assaulted her and filmed the act which he uploaded online.

Soon after, a Covid-induced lockdown was imposed, and after some days the woman moved to London for further studies, police said, adding that according to the woman’s statement she went into depression after the assault and has struggled to deal with it since. She returned to India two days ago and finally told her family about her ordeal after which they persuaded her to file a police complaint, police said.

The accused at present is studying at an Australian university and was not immediately available for questioning by the police.

The police have registered a case under sections 377 (Unnatural offences), 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of the Indian Penal Code and for aggravated penetrative sexual assault under the relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012. He has also been booked under the relevant provisions of Information Technology Act, 2000 for violation of privacy, for publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form, for publishing or transmitting of material containing sexually explicit act, etc., in electronic form and for publishing or transmitting material depicting children in sexually explicit act.

In his absence, the police called the 20-year-old’s father for questioning on Friday, and they will now be questioning the common friend at whose house the party was held and where the assault allegedly took place.