Minor, 2 friends rape, blackmail 15-year-old girl

MUMBAI: A 15-year-old girl was allegedly raped over three months earlier this year by a 17-year-boy who had befriended her on Snapchat and two of his friends. The trio also used her nude images to blackmail her into silence. It was only when her mother noticed that cash and valuables had started going missing from the house that the crime was discovered. All the three accused were arrested by the Byculla police on Monday.
Police said that the 17-year-old befriended the girl on Snapchat in May this year. One day, he took her to his home and allegedly raped her. He also asked her for nude images during their interactions, which he later used to blackmail her with. He allegedly raped her twice after the first instance, said a police officer from Byculla police station.
The boy then shared the same images with two of his friends, aged 19 and 22, who also raped her, while threatening to post her intimate images online if she spoke out. This went on from May to July. The girl, who studies in Class 10, took money and valuables from her home to pay them off.
When her mother noticed that the valuables were missing, she confronted the girl who broke down and narrated her ordeal. The police said all the accused belong to well-to-do families and the minor girl’s family owns a business in South Mumbai.
The accused have been booked under Section 64 (rape) and 341 (criminal intimidation) of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 and under relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, said a police officer. The minor accused has been sent to Dongri Children’s Home.