Five youth, including two brothers, were arrested on Sunday by the Salem City Police on the charges of blackmailing and sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl.
Police said K. Vinith alias Asari, 23, of Thekkampati enticed the girl of Class IX by claiming he had fallen in love with her. On April 25, he allegedly convinced her to elope with him and took her to a relative’s house, where he sexually abused her and recorded their physically intimate moments on his mobile. He shared the video clip with his brother, K. Vignesh, 21. The same day, Vignesh and three of his friends blackmailed the girl, threatening to upload the video on social media websites and sexually assaulted her.
Acting on a girl missing complaint filed by her father, the police located her at the house of Vinith’s relative on April 26.
Out of fear, the girl did not reveal that she was sexually assaulted and blackmailed.
However, on Saturday, she let her aunt in on the sexual assault. Her aunt informed her father, who lodged a complaint with the Suramangalam all women’s police on Saturday evening.
Case filed
The police registered a case under Section 366 (kidnapping, abducting, or inducing a woman to compel her marriage, etc) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 5 (G), read with Section 6, of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
On Sunday, they arrested Vinith; Vignesh; S. Srinivasan, 23; S. Akash alias Thakkali, 19; and S. Arunkumar, 28, of Thekkampatti.
Police sources said the accused were sent for a medical test and would be remanded in custody.
