Pocso: 1 held for blackmail, 3 for rape

Chennai: The St Thomas Mount all-women police arrested Mark D Cruz (19) in the city for allegedly threatening two minor girls in Kerala with their obscene photos after befriending them on Instagram.

Mark received photos from the victims on Instagram by posing as a friend. He later blackmailed them with the threat to leak them on other social media platforms.

The victims’ parents approached the police in Kerala and the petition was forwarded to Tamil Nadu police. The St Thomas Mount police registered a case and arrested Mark, a second-year BBA student of a private college.

He was later remanded in judicial custody.

Meanwhile, the all-women police in Anna Nagar arrested three persons under Pocso Act. Two employees of a lodge, where the accused and 14-year-old victim would meet, were also arrested.

Police said that the child developed a relationship with a 24-year-old, a private firm employee and her relative. They stayed together often at a lodge in Arumbakkam.

On Saturday too, he brought her to the lodge and booked a room. Based on information from the child’s mother, the child welfare committee alerted the police, who rushed to the spot, and arrested him on the charges of sexual assault.

Since the lodge allowed them to stay there despite knowing that the girl was a minor, its’ manager and helper — S Stephan Sureshkumar (54) of Madurai and S Kannan (52) of Sivaganga — were also arrested and remanded in judicial custody.