Man arrested from Madhya Pradesh for sexually assaulting Guwahati girl he met online

Guwahati, Aug 16 (PTI) A 26-year-old man was arrested by the Assam CID from Madhya Pradesh for allegedly sexually assaulting a Guwahati girl he met on social media, and blackmailing her, police said on Saturday.

The man, a resident of Dewas, met the girl on Instagram in 2021, and they became friends. He came to Guwahati in March 2022 to meet the girl, and during that time, he allegedly sexually assaulted her, they said.

He later started blackmailing her to appear on video calls, threatening that he would otherwise share the photos and videos of the "assault" with her friends and parents, they said.

In 2024, he came to Guwahati to meet her again, but she refused. Since then, he has been creating fake social media accounts to share the videos he made, police said.

Based on a complaint filed by the girl's father on August 6, a case was lodged by the CID's cyber police station under relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, as she was a minor at that time. A CID team visited Dewas and arrested the accused on August 13, they said.

After his arrest, the man attempted to misrepresent his age by presenting fraudulent documents to falsely project himself as a juvenile. The CID team visited his school and collected the age certificate, according to which he is 26, they added.

He is being brought to Guwahati on transit remand and would be produced before the special POCSO court, police said. PTI DG DG SOM