Indian-origin man arrested over cyberstalking, rape threats to woman in US

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An Indian-origin man in the US has been arrested and charged with cyberstalking a woman, whom he harassed using several social media accounts and emails and solicited others to rape, murder and decapitate her in exchange for Bitcoin.

Desmond Babloo Singh, 19, of New York has been indicted on federal charges of cyberstalking, causing intentional damage to a protected computer, aggravated identity theft, e-mailing a hoax bomb threat, and murder for hire, United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Robert K Hur said on Tuesday.

According to the affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint, in February 2020, the man sent the victim an Instagram story in which he professed his love for her.

The woman, a former classmate of Desmond Singh's older sister, rejected his romantic advances and told him that she was not interested in a relationship with him. The woman, who resides in Maryland, asked Desmond Singh to not contact her any further.

The affidavit said that from approximately April to November 2020, Desmond Singh allegedly used more than 100 different social media, electronic communication, and phone accounts to send the woman harassing and unsolicited messages.

The messages included express and implied threats of death and bodily injury, sexualised violence, and racial slurs.

Desmond Singh also allegedly accessed several of the woman's electronic accounts without authorisation, changing her passwords to lock her out of her accounts and posting offensive images and statements to her accounts without authorisation.

He allegedly obtained personal images that had been privately stored in the woman's Snapchat account, which he later posted on social media accounts used to harass her, and sent via text message to her and her family members.

According to the affidavit, the man publicly posted the woman's personal information on several occasions and encouraged others to harass the victim.

Desmond Singh also allegedly posted the personal information of the woman's family members. He allegedly "swatted" the woman, causing a police response to her Baltimore County residence in response to an e-mailed bomb threat, it said, adding that Desmond Singh solicited others online to rape, murder, and decapitate the woman in exchange for Bitcoin.

If convicted, Desmond Singh faces a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for cyberstalking; a maximum of 10 years in federal prison for causing intentional damage to a protected computer; a mandatory two years in federal prison, consecutive to any other sentence imposed, for aggravated identity theft; a maximum of five years in federal prison for e-mailing a hoax bomb threat; and a maximum of 10 years in federal prison for murder for hire. He will have his initial appearance in US District Court in Baltimore at a later date.

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