The Vasai police have arrested a 19-year-old man for harassing a minor girl by uploading her photograph on a ‘paid sex service’ profile on Instagram. The accused, Fawad Danish Shaikh, was arrested from Bhiwandi, said an officer privy to the investigation. A Std X girl had approached Vasai police station on January 24 after finding her photograph on an Instagram profile with objectionable content. On January 10, she had received an unusual message from an unknown Instagram handle error_8080.

The Instagram person had not disclosed his identity but kept asking for details about a selfie that the girl had taken with her friend in August 2022. “When the girl did not disclose anything to him, the accused abused her verbally and used foul language. The accused then started insisting that the girl share her personal mobile number, which she did not,” said an officer.