The Mumbai Crime Branch has detained two Bhiwandi-based males for befriending a 10-year-old girl on Snapchat and WhatsApp and threatening her to give nude images of herself. Both accused allegedly informed the girl that if she didn’t comply, they would kill her parents.
A case was registered on Thursday evening.
According to the Mumbai Crime Branch, a 10-year-old girl living with her parents in a western suburb was taking an online class when she received a Snapchat message from one of the accused. The two became friends over time. During one of their conversations, the man sent her a photo of himself in his underwear and requested that she send her own.
When she declined, the man and one of his friends threatened to murder her parents. The girl alerted her parents, who filed a police report against unknown persons at the local police station.
In charge of Crime Branch Unit 10, Inspector Mahesh Thakur put together a team and started looking into the matter. Both of the accused were residents of Bhiwandi, according to technical investigations.
Vahid Pathan, Unit 10’s Assistant Police Inspector and a team of officers set out for Bhiwandi. After a four-hour search, they were able to track down and apprehend Sunny Janiyani, 29, and Ajay Mhatre, 30.
Janiyani had first messaged the girl on Snapchat, according to further investigation. When they became friends, he gave her number to Mhatre, who also began conversing with her.
The accused were arrested under the Prevention of Children from Sexual Offenses Act, as well as sections 354 (A)(C)(D), 506 (2), and IT Act 66 (E), 67 (B) of the IPC. “The arrested accused have been handed over to the local police for further investigation,” DCP Datta Nalavade said.
