Malad Case: Probe to find rape video recipients

The Malad police is now searching for people who received the gang rape video clip that was being circulated since November 8. Police has seized the mobile, from which the video clip was shot, and is now processing further to send this clip for forensic check in FSL.

According to a senior official, the 12-minute-clip showed the rape of a minor and due to the use of technology police has booked a case under the section 67B of the IT Act. “As watching obscene clips and forwarding them to others is a crime, so we are searching for all those who watched the clip and forwarded it to others. This is a crime under the IT Act and the obscenity Act as well as crime against children.”

The video clip was shot by the accused went viral in the area and was received by the victim’s aunt on Wednesday who later approached the police. The police approached the victim, who named four minors as her rapists. Police has arrested the four alleged rapists and they are being held in the child home at Dongi.

The victim, a 15-year-old girl, was raped by her boyfriend and three others on the pretext of seeking help in studies on November 8. The boyfriend had not only recorded the incident but had also threatened the girl to stay mum about it or he would use the video clip against her. According to a senior official of Malad police station, the victim has been made to undergo a medical checkup and the results are awaited.

However, psychologists have claimed that the trauma girl had faced and the way she was threatened can be harmful for her mental health. As psychiatrist D. Rajiv Anand put it, “In such cases where a minor gets gang raped or a private video of hers goes viral, the victim goes into depression whether she is showing signs of it or not. Such acts, makes her realise that her body was used which leads her to feel disgusted, and results in lowering her self esteem,” he added.