KOCHI: Use of mobile phones by minors at shelter homes has raised the police’s hackles. In a recent incident, a 14-year-old girl inmate of a shelter home at Perumbavoor was made to send her nude pictures and videos after a person befriended her through Instagram.The incident came to light during a counselling session of a Class 8 girl student by the Child Welfare Committee after she suffered a mental trauma.
While the police have arrested four persons -- Mohammed Amis, 23, of Ottappalam; Muhammed Rasheed, 20, of Thrikadiyur; Nihal Shan Pullath, 20, of Valanchery; and Labeeb K, 20, of Malappuram -- a search is on for the main accused who is a medical student in Ukraine. The arrested were friends of the medical student.
“It was the medical student who first befriended the girl in March this year. He made the girl send her nude photographs and show her nudity through video calls,” said a police officer.The police registered the case on April 26 and arrested the four youths on May 31. Additional District and Sessions Judge K Soman, who considered the bail pleas of the accused, cautioned the district child protection unit and also the management of the shelter homes to monitor the use of mobile phones or computers by the inmates and they must see to it that the children are not provided with such facilities except for their educational purpose or other reasons for their welfare.
According to the police, though the mobile phone was in the possession of a staffer of the shelter home, it was handed over to the girl on a regular basis for attending online classes. In the report, the police said the girl developed a relationship with the medical student and it was he who had insisted her to send the nude photos.
“She was also compelled to make video calls in nude. However, after making video calls for a few times, the first accused blocked the contact with the girl. This resulted in a mental trauma for the victim and she was sent for counselling,” the police said, adding that the other accused were friends of the medical student from whom they obtained the girl’s nude pictures.