A 53-year-old app based cab driver has been arrested by the Mumbai police for allegedly blackmailing his niece and sexually assaulting her over the past three years. According to police, the accused had made a video of the 17-year-old girl and under the pretext of posting them online, he would threaten her and rape her. The incident started early in 2020, when the family members sent their daughter with him to get groceries and also for sightseeing, they said. “As he is a driver by profession, he would take children from the family along to different locations and the victim who was 14 at the time also accompanied them,” said an officer. However, the accused took advantage of the situation and touched her inappropriately when no one was around. “She also used to stay overnight at the house of the accused when he would exploit her,” police said. The girl told the police that the accused threatened her against telling anyone. However, once he allegedly raped her in his house when his wife and three children were away. “He made a video of the act and used it to blackmail her since then,” said an investigator. Police added that the girl was traumatised but was scared of the accused, and did not reveal her ordeal. On Monday, one of their relatives witnessed that the accused was forcefully taking the girl somewhere and alerted her parents. The parents took her in confidence, following which she revealed about the abuse. The parents then took the girl to police station and registered a case. The accused was booked for sexual assault and blackmailing under the Indian Penal Code as well as relevant sections of Protection of Children under Sexual Offence Act. A team was sent to the accused’s house and he was brought to the police station, said an officer. The accused confessed to the crime and his mobile phone along with the video was also recovered. Police said that the accused was produced before court and remanded in police custody. “We are trying to find if he had targeted any other girls in the past,” said an investigator.
