Businessman held for 'stalking, harassing' Kannada film actress
Bengaluru, Nov 15 (PTI): A businessman was arrested on Saturday for allegedly stalking, intimidating and harassing a Kannada film actress, police said.
The accused was identified as Aravind Venkatesh Reddy.
In her complaint, the 36-year-old actress stated that she had known Reddy since 2021 and first met him at an event in Sri Lanka in 2022. He maintained a cordial relationship with her for a few months and befriended her.
According to the complaint, they were initially in a live-in relationship. He was affectionate and caring at first, but his behaviour soon turned obsessive and threatening. The accused would often come home drunk, due to which she distanced herself from him.
Despite her attempts to stay away, the accused allegedly followed her everywhere, tracked her location, and on Instagram, morphed her photographs and posted them to insult her, the complaint said.
He also allegedly sent some men to the complainant’s parental home to create trouble. He threatened to kill her younger brother and harassed her, insisting that she continue the relationship with him, she claimed.
In April 2024, distressed by alleged mental and physical harassment, the actress attempted suicide at her residence here after Reddy allegedly threatened to forcibly marry her, the FIR stated.
The harassment continued, including demands for Rs one crore, attempts to defame her before her family, and persistent tracking, it added.
Based on the allegations stated in the complaint, a case was registered at Rajarajeshwarinagar police station on October 17 under Sections 78(2) (stalking), 79 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman), 352 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), 351(2) (criminal intimidation) and 3(5) (common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, a senior police officer said.
The case was later transferred to Govindarajanagar police station and, based on the investigation, the accused was arrested today, he said.
The mobile phone allegedly used by him to commit the offence has also been seized, police said, adding that further investigation is underway.
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Two arrested in K'taka for assaulting minors, uploading CSAM content
Bengaluru (PTI): Two men were arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting two minor girls, recording the acts on mobile phones and uploading the videos online as child sexual abuse material, police said on Thursday.
The accused have been identified as Kiran Kumar (29), hailing from Chitradurga district, and Aditya M K (20), hailing from Shivamogga district, they said.
A probe was initiated after information was received from the NCRP portal regarding a suspected instance of creation of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) for online dissemination, police said.
Accordingly, a case was registered at Kaggalipura Police Station under relevant sections of the IT Act on May 10, they added.
Investigation revealed that two minor girl victims were exploited and videos were created and uploaded to the internet. The child victims have subsequently recorded their statements as per procedure and further necessary legal steps have been taken, Pronab Mohanty Director General of Police, Cyber Command, said in a statement.
Based on the statements of the victims, the accused persons, who allegedly assaulted the minors, recorded the acts on mobile phones and uploaded the videos online, were arrested, he said.
Following the probe, sections 65(2) (rape) and 70 (gangrape) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with relevant sections of the POCSO Act, have been added to the FIR, police said.
Officials collected relevant information and on May 12, arrested the accused persons and seized three mobile phones belonging to them, in which the videos had allegedly been recorded, he said.
The accused were later produced before the court and taken into police custody for further investigation, he added.
According to him, in CSAM cases, police usually apprehend offenders who have downloaded such content or have kept them in their possession after obtaining them from elsewhere, usually the internet.
"The present case is one of the very few instances where content creators and uploaders have been apprehended," Mohanty added.
