Kaduthuruthy: The Kaduthuruthy police were in for a shock when the mobile phone recovered from a person, who was arrested on charges of sexually harassing girls whom he befriended online, threw up vulgar photos and videos of his numerous victims.
The police found about 40 obscene photos and footage of many school girls and middle-aged women - all stored in a secret folder - on the cell phone seized from Jins Saji, 24, of Jithu Bhavan, Vechoor near Vaikom in Kottayam district.
What made the incident even more shocking was that the accused had befriended all his victims online before sexually assaulting them. After having gained their trust online, he would ask them to send their nude photographs and then force them to offer sexual favours by threatening to release their intimate photos and videos on the internet.
He has trapped at least 30 women by deploying the same modus operandi, the police said.
The alleged crime came to light after one of his victims, a school girl, revealed the incidents of abuse to her principal. The principal, in turn, handed over the information to the Operation Gurukulam squad under the Kottayam district police chief, who took him into custody.
According to the police, Jins, a painting worker, has had close links with ganja peddling gangs in Kottayam. The police are probing whether he had transferred the photos and videos to any other devise. The mobile phone would be sent for forensic examination to find out whether the content was circulated online or shared with other people.
The police will approach the court seeking his custody, said SI S Shyamkumar, who is heading the investigation.
