MP man sends obscene pics to SoBo woman, held

Colaba police arrested a 31-year-old man from Madhya Pradesh on Saturday for sending obscene pictures to a 32-year-old woman from south Mumbai.

Colaba police arrested a 31-year-old man from Madhya Pradesh on Saturday for sending obscene pictures to a 32-year-old woman from south Mumbai.

HT Image

The accused, Shamlal Babulal Chouhan alias Bachda, is a resident of Dalauda, Mandsaur district in MP, police said. He confessed to sending pictures of his private parts to the woman, a Colaba resident, thrice. Police, during investigation, found that he used a sim card, which was in his wife’s name, to send the pictures. The court remanded him in police custody on Sunday.

According to police officers, a week ago, the Colaba resident filed a complaint against an unknown person for sending her obscene photos. A case was registered under sections 354A (sexual harassment) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code and section 67 (punishment for publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form) of the Information Technology Act, 2000.

“The woman alleged she received pictures of male genitalia from an unknown number. The accused then called her and apologised saying the photos were sent mistakenly and the intended recipient was a friend and not her. Similar pictures were received a second time. This time the woman’s son was playing games on the mobile phone and saw them. The woman tried to call Chouhan and confront him but he did not pick up. Later, the phone was switched off,” said police.

However, when the woman received similar pictures the third time, she informed her husband who contacted Chouhan from another number. The accused again claimed he had intended to send it to a friend. The woman then decided to lodge a complaint.

When Chouhan was asked how he got the contact number of the woman, he confessed to have sent the pictures randomly.

“We suspect he randomly dialled numbers and checked the display pictures on WhatsApp. If the display picture was of a woman, he started sending them obscene pictures. We are probing if he has a past record of such crime and how many women he has sent such pictures to,” said Sanjay Donar, police inspector, Colaba police station.