In Meerut Shocker, Shopkeeper Sexually Abused Children, Filmed Videos

A man in Uttar Pradesh's Meerut allegedly sexually assaulted several children and young adults in a village and filmed the act to blackmail them afterwards for money, police said on Tuesday.

A First Information Report (FIR) has been filed against the 37-year-old man who ran a grocery store in the village. The FIR names six victims, four of them are minors.

The accused targetted those who came to his store to buy goods, locals said. He would offer the victims drinks laced with intoxicants, sexually abuse them and film the act, they added. He then used the videos to blackmail the children and extort money from them by threatening to make the videos public.

"One day I had gone to buy something from his shops. He offered me a cold drink. I fainted after drinking it. He showed me a video he had recorded of me and demanded money from me. I told my mother about what had happened after a few days," one of the victims told NDTV.

NDTV also talked to the families of the victims who said that the sexual assault has severely traumatised their children. "My son has stopped eating or drinking. He has gone quiet, he does not talk to anyone," the mother of one of the victims said.

Another man said his son has since left home for work near Delhi but has refused to come back home. "He is not even talking to us on the phone," he said.

"It was only when the police came that we came to know that this has happened to my son. My son is feeling very ashamed. He says he will never come to the village again. He had asked for Rs 3,000 a few days ago. Now we know that he used to give the money to that man," a victim's mother said.

The families claim that since the incident came to light, they have stopped leaving their homes from fear of being shamed by neighbours.

Some victims also claim that the accused was sexually abusing children for years but the village got to know about it only after a video of his assaulting a victim surfaced on social media.

"He was abusing my son for the last three-four years. We had no idea about this. He used to threaten to kill my son, he would put a gun to his head and demand money. When we suspected that money was missing from the house for a few days, we asked him but he did not say anything, he would just stay quiet. He would rarely go to school and would not eat or drink anything. Once, he tried to take his own life," a victim's mother said.

Angry parents are demanding severe punishment for the accused who has been missing since the case was filed on August 19.

Locals claimed he was addicted to alcohol and lived with his mother, wife, daughter and nephew. Police say they have been searching for him for eight days but have not been able to locate him.

"An FIR was filed immediately after the matter came to light. We have also provided counseling to the children. Their statement will also be recorded. We are conducting raids at several location to catch the accused. He will be arrested soon," senior police officer Kamlesh Bahadur said.

The Kailash Satyarthi Foundation has also taken cognisance of the matter and said that it will fight for the victims. "Our foundation is going to fight the legal battle against the accused and demand justice for the children," Rakesh Sengar, Executive Director, Kailash Satyarthi Children's Foundation said.

The FIR has been registered under sections for unnatural sex, criminal intimidation and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.