Woman Held Hostage At Knifepoint By Instagram Friend In Gujarat

A young woman, who runs a beauty parlour in Gujarat's Bharuch district, was held hostage at knife point by a man she had befriended on social media app Instagram.

The suspect, Prakash Dashrath, hailing from Patan, entered the woman's beauty parlour and threatened her with a knife after she refused further communication with him.

According to sources, "the victim had developed a friendship with Prakash through Instagram messages. However, when the woman decided to cut off contact, Prakash grew enraged. He then visited her beauty parlour, located in the Vagra market area, and held her at knife point. Fearing for her life, the woman managed to message the parlour owner, alerting him to the situation."

"Upon receiving the distress message, the beauty parlour owner immediately informed the Vagra police. Police officers arrived quickly, broke through the parlour's glass door, and rescued the woman. The suspect, Prakash Dashrath, was arrested at the scene. The woman was safely evacuated, and police have lodged a formal complaint against the accused."

Following the incident, Police Sub-Inspector A.K. Jadeja of the Vagra police station issued a public advisory, urging people to be cautious when interacting with strangers on social media.

The officer said that "such interactions can lead to dangerous situations, as seen in this case. Authorities have also advised the responsible use of social media platforms to avoid similar incidents in the future".

In another incident reported from Bharuch on Thursday, a physical education teacher at an international school on National Highway No. 48 has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for sexually assaulting a first-grade student in 2017.

The POCSO court delivered the judgment after hearing the compelling evidence and arguments from the chief public prosecutor and reviewing medical reports. In addition to the prison sentence, the court imposed a fine of Rs 1.5 lakh on the teacher and ordered a compensation of Rs 2 lakh to be paid to the victim.

The incident occurred on December 12, 2017, when the victim attended her regular school session from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Her mother sent her to school in a private van around 6:15 a.m. Later that afternoon, the child returned home and confided in her family about the assault. Upon learning about the incident, the victim's mother complained to the local police.

Following the complaint, the police arrested the accused, Prithvisinh Dilipsinh Ambaliya, and filed a charge sheet in the POCSO court.

The investigation revealed that the teacher had been involved in multiple instances of misconduct with children.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)