Nirmal Nagar Police arrested a 23-year-old youth on Monday for allegedly blackmailing a college girl using her obscene photographs. The accused had been threatening the victim for the past year, and after being mentally harassed, she finally filed a complaint with the police. Based on her complaint, police registered a case under sections related to molestation and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and arrested the accused from Nasik.
According to police sources, the victim is a college student residing in the Khar area. In 2024, she befriended the accused through the social media platform Snapchat. Initially, they became good friends, but over time, the accused started threatening her. He got angry when she spoke to other male students in her college and became suspicious of her. He began verbally abusing her, stalking her on her way to college, and calling her to threaten her whenever he saw her talking to someone.
Later, the accused threatened to leak private photos of the girl on social media and show them to her family. He even warned her that he would harm her family and commit suicide, leaving a note with her name. Due to constant mental harassment, the victim was under extreme stress. When the threats escalated, she confided in a trusted person, who advised her to file a police complaint. Gathering courage, she approached the Nirmal Nagar police and lodged a complaint against the accused.
Taking the matter seriously, police immediately registered a case under the Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita sections 75, 78, 352, and 351(2), along with sections 8 and 12 of the POCSO Act. Based on the victim's inputs, the police laid a trap and arrested the 23-year-old accused on Monday.
The accused hails from Deola Taluka in Nashik and works as a delivery executive for a food delivery company. He had visited the victim’s house and allegedly clicked private photos of them together, which he later used to blackmail her. The police have seized his mobile phone and will send it for forensic examination.
Preliminary investigation revealed that the accused does not have any prior criminal record. He is currently in police custody, and further investigation is underway.