Navi Mumbai: Out on bail, accused targets assaulted minor again

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The Kamothe cops have arrested a 23-year-old shopkeeper who was out on bail in a sodomising case involving a minor, after he pressured the boy into shooting videos in a compromising position with his friend, and made one viral. The accused had threatened to make videos of himself with the 16-year-old boy viral, if he didn't ask his father to withdraw the case against him. When the boy said he couldn't do so, the accused posted the other video on social media.

The crime

The shopkeeper, Mohammed Samim Mustakim, has a shop at Kamothe near the boy's house. In November 2019, the man lured the boy, then 13-years-old, on the pretext of chocolate and sodomised him. The accused filmed the act and kept sodomising him for next 4 months, threatening to make the videos viral and kill him. But the boy told his father about his ordeal. His father lodged a complaint with the Kamothe police in February 2020 against the man. Kamothe police booked the shopkeeper under IPC 377 (unnatural offence) and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. The police arrested the accused and he was sent to jail by a court. After spending 2 years in jail, the accused secured bail.

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Another threat

"According to the minor, the accused met him in March 2022 and threatened to teach him a lesson for registering the FIR against him, and asked him to withdraw the complaint. When the minor didn't responded positively, he threatened to make the videos of him shot in 2019 viral. When the boy said he couldn't do that as his father made the complaint, the accused told him to repeat the act with his friend and shoot the videos," said an official from Kamothe police station.

Fearing the previous videos would be viral, the survivor shot videos with his friend in May 2022 and sent them to the accused. After getting more videos, the accused again intimidated the boy giving him a month's time to tell his father to withdraw the case. The police said the boy didn't tell his father and kept avoiding the accused.

On August 23, the victim received a call from his friend saying a video of his with his friend in compromising condition was uploaded on Instagram, and many of his friends were tagged to it. Another friend called the boy saying the same. The minor broke down before his father and told him about this.

"As per the new complaint, an FIR has been filed against the accused under IPC Sections 504 (intentional insult) and 506 (criminal intimidation) and relevant sections of IT Act such as 67B (publishing or transmitting of material depicting children in sexually explicit act, etc.. The accused has been arrested," said Smita Jadhav, senior inspector, Kamothe police station.