Crime Patrol: Blackmail on Facebook drives Mumbai teenager to suicide (Episode 512 on 29th may 2015)

Part 1

Part 2

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The Inside Story

Mumbai, Maharashtra

Online blackmailers drive B.Com student to suicide over Rs 8,000

Abhishek Rasam, an 18-year-old B.Com student at Nalanda College in Gorai, committed suicide on Valentine's Day by lying on the tracks between Dadar and Matunga stations. It is believed that he was blackmailed by a gang of online imposters who posed as girls on Facebook and threatened to file an FIR against him for sending obscene messages and photos to one of the gang's fake accounts. They demanded Rs 8,000 as payment, which Rasam could not afford, and he ended up taking his own life.

After his body was found on February 14, the police initially suspected that the cause of the suicide was a failed love affair. However, after investigations began, they discovered that Rasam was being blackmailed by the imposters who had created the fake account. They also found incriminating photographs exchanged on Facebook between Rasam and the gang posing as girls.

Rasam's case is an example of the dangers of online communication, as such incidents have become commonplace. The Borivli police have registered a case against an unknown person under Sections 306, 385, and 294 of the Indian Penal Code, along with section 67 (A) of the IT Act. It is hoped that this will serve as a warning to those who use social media to engage with strangers.

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