BENGALURU: Nandini Layout police on Friday arrested a city-based film distributor on charges of sexual harassment and extortion, after he befriended a foreigner and started blackmailing her.
The woman on Thursday approached police to file a case, and the accused Roopesh N (39), was arrested.
A senior police officer said that Roopesh, a resident of JP Park in Yeshwantpur, had got distribution rights of Kannada films ‘Rangi Taranga’ and ‘Avane Srimannarayana’.
In Melbourne, Australia, Roopesh befriended the woman, took her to a pub and forced her to consume cold drinks and hookah.
When she was inebriated, he photographed her and started blackmailing her, saying he would upload her pictures on social media and share them with her family. The woman, who is married and has children, was scared and when he demanded money, she gave him Rs 6 lakh over time.
On February 1 this year, she came to Nandini Layout to meet her relatives and started living here. Roopesh, who heard about this, returned from Australia and approached her. He started asking her for sexual favours and also demanded more money. Upset over his repeated harassment, she decided to file a case, police added.
The police officer said that during investigations, they had contacted Roopesh’s wife, who had revealed that he had used the same modus operandi with many other women. Though she had warned him to refrain from such activities, Roopesh continued to do so as he wanted to make easy money, she said. Investigations are on to find out if Roopesh had extorted any other women.