Nagpur: The Nagpur Police have filed three FIRs and arrested a psychologist for blackmailing and allegedly sexually harassing several girls under the pretext of career counselling.
"Three FIRs have been filed against the accused who is in judicial custody. His wife has been made a co-accused. Even though she knew that her husband was sexually harassing young women who came for counselling, she did nothing to stop it. Her further involvement in this case is being investigated," Ravindra Singhal, commissioner of police (Nagpur), said.
The accused has been running a counselling chamber in the city for many years, offering career counselling and conducting camps in Nagpur and the neighbouring districts. A large number of students were attending such camps for career-related solicitations.
It has been alleged that he sexually exploited some of them and took obscene photos and videos of minor girls to blackmail the victims. He started blackmailing a young woman who came to the chamber a decade ago by sending her picture last November. Tired of this, the woman approached the police to file a complaint, based on which a case was registered.
The accused was arrested and booked under the POCSO Act. During the investigation, shocking revelations came to light after the seizure of the hard disk that stored objectionable photos of several young women.
Police suspect that the accused might have indulged in sexual offence with the women and have prepared a list of the visitors to contact them for questioning. On January 4, two more victims gathered courage and filed complaints.
"A special committee comprising a female police officer, a women and child welfare officer and some female counsellors has been formed to investigate whether there have been more incidents of sexual harassment by the accused. Most of the victims are now married and living a happy life. Therefore, disclosing the name of the accused psychologist and the information about his counselling centre at this moment can ruin the lives of many. Therefore, the police have decided to keep it clandestine," Singhal said.
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