Mumbai: 22-year-old man stalked via Instagram, kidnapped and raped by four men

The four accused identified victim's location using his Instagram post (Representaional Image, courtesy: Phys.org)

A 22-year-old man was allegedly raped on early hours of Monday, by four people who used a post put up by the victim on his Instagram account to trace his location and later abduct him. According to the Mumbai Police, the youth was allegedly assaulted in a moving car for almost three hours before being dumped on the road by the accused on Sunday night.

According to a report by India Today, the Mumbai Police has registered a First Information Report (FIR) under Section 377 (unnatural sex) of the Indian Penal Code and has arrested all the four suspects. One of the suspects, who is a minor, has been sent to a child remand home.

According to police officers from the VB Nagar police station, the four accused stalked the 22-year-old victim on Instagram. On Sunday, the man, who lives in the central suburbs of Mumbai, had posted a selfie outside a restaurant in the city.

The four accused used the details of the restaurant on his post to trace the victim’s location. The four then allegedly reached the restaurant and approached the man, telling him that they followed him on Instagram and were huge “fans” of him. After he fell for the trick, the accused took him for a bike ride.

The five people, including the four accused and the victim, rode for around 20 minutes until they reached a hotel near the Mumbai airport. There the victim was forced into a car, which was driven off by the accused. They then allegedly raped the victim in the moving car for three hours before dumping him on a road.

The victim then called his parents and along with them approached the police and registered a complaint. The police managed to nab all the four suspects later that day. While the three adults were produced in a court and sent to police custody, the minor accused was sent to a child remand home.

Senior police officer Madhuri Pokle of the VB Nagar police station said further investigations are on. “All the accused are remanded to police custody. We are taking down further statements in the case and investigating the sequence. We are awaiting reports from the hospital as well,” she said.

OpIndia Staff: Staff reporter at OpIndia