KOCHI: The police have filed a case against a man and his father for allegedly threatening to circulate nude pictures of a woman on social media.The case, based on a complaint filed by the father of the woman, said the man has been blackmailing her family to pay him Rs 25 lakh not to publish the photos.
According to the police, the duo was in a relationship and the accused person was using his proximity as a ‘lover’ to threaten the woman. The ordeal came to light after the woman’s failed attempt to end her own life on September 19, 2021.
When her father asked her why she decided to take such an extreme step, the woman revealed that the accused person had taken her to a lodge and engaged in a sexual relationship with her on two occasions, when she had landed in Thiruvananthapuram from China where she had been pursuing an MBBS course from 2017. He also took her nude photographs and started demanding money.
The police said the latest development took place at a time when there was already friction between the families of the woman and the accused man, after the former’s family registered a police complaint against the man for harassing her by making advancements. Though a case was registered based on the complaint, it was later withdrawn on the family’s request.
The police have registered a new case against the man and his father based on a complaint lodged by the woman’s father. The case was initially registered with the Valiyathura police on October 7, but was later transferred to the Munambam police after the probe found that the accused person had tried to manhandle the woman, her father and a relative at a hotel in Cherai beach on October 4, where they had all come to settle the issue amicably, the police said. The woman’s father told the police that the accused at the hotel reiterated the demand for money to delete the objectionable photos from the phone.
Meanwhile, the attempt by the man’s father to avail of anticipatory bail backfired when the sessions court rejected his plea. The 58-year-old father claimed that the story put forward by the woman’s father was false, adding that the meeting in Cherai was a discussion to arrange a marriage alliance between the duo.