03 April,2018 02:38 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
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In a horrific incident, a 16-year-old girl was raped and exploited after the act was recorded for months by a 17-year-old boy and his friends for months. The Kurla police have arrested the main accused and found that the boy lured her to a secluded spot, raped, filmed the act and exploited her for months by threatening her that he'd circulate the video.
What's more the boy's friends also approached her and exploited her by threatening her. The main accused has been arrested for rape, blackmail under the POCSO Act since the girl is a minor. Since the boy is a minor as well, he was produced before the Juvenile Justice Board and remanded to an observation home. The police are now keen on nabbing the other boys as well before deciding whether they want the teens to be tried as adults.
The case came to light when the girl's father learnt about the obscene video featuring his daughter that was doing the rounds in his locality. A source told The Times of India, "He was told that his daughter has been trapped and is being exploited. He immediately grilled his daughter, who broke down and narrated her ordeal."
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The girl told her father that a few months ago, the accused, who is her neighbor, befriended as she was going to school. One evening, the accused took the girl to the terrace and raped her. He also filmed the act and used it to threaten her to keep her quiet. A few days later, he used the same video to threaten her and rape her again.
The source added, "The accused had been exploiting her since, but the crime got more sinister as recently, a few other boys from the locality approached her one after the other with the video and began exploiting her." The police are now trying to find out how the video was circulated to the other boys.
The girl's father was initially reticent to approach the police, but once they told him that under the new law, the girl can give her statement in front of a magistrate which would be enough to nail the accused. He then went ahead and lodged a complaint.
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