Dharwad (Karnataka), March 30 (IANS) In a concerning incident in Dharwad, Karnataka, an individual accused under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, allegedly made threatening calls to a minor victim from inside prison.

The case, which came to light on Monday, has gained significant attention and taken on a communal undertone, as the victim and the accused belong to different communities.

A video of the interaction surfaced on social media and quickly went viral, raising serious security concerns.

According to sources, the accused placed a video call to the victim from a mobile phone while lodged in Dharwad Central Jail. In the footage, the accused reportedly shows the victim’s name etched onto his hand and threatens her, demanding she provide a statement in his favour during court proceedings and issue a statement that she is in love with him.

The accused allegedly harassed the minor with repeated calls, reportedly threatening that she would face the same fate as Neha Hiremath, a college student who was tragically stabbed to death by a jilted lover, Fayaz, on a college campus in Hubballi.

The accused in the POCSO case has also threatened the girl that he would make their private video viral.

The girl’s family has expressed outrage over the security breach and demanded immediate action.

Following a protest by activists from the Sri Ram Sena, authorities very recently transferred the accused to the Vijayapura prison.

This development has sparked a heated debate regarding the illegal availability of mobile phones within correctional facilities and also regarding jail authorities turning a blind eye to the development.

Preliminary information indicated that the family had submitted proof of the video call made by the accused on March 11.

It can be recalled that in another case, a man who had been arrested for kidnapping and raping a minor, came out on bail, assaulted the victim and threatened her to withdraw the two complaints against him at Kembathahalli Road in Bengaluru.

The 24-year-old accused made the victim believe that he would marry her, kidnapped her and raped her. The police arrested him under the POCSO Act and remanded him to judicial custody. Coming out on bail later, the accused and his relatives barged inside the victim’s house and assaulted her, her father, mother and uncle. The police arrested him again and sent him to prison.

It can also be noted that family members of a nine-year-old girl who was sexually assaulted by a driver alleged that the family of the accused threatened them to withdraw the case. The accused, hailing from Tamil Nadu, worked in Bengaluru and he allegedly sexually assaulted the girl. Following the lodging of a case in Karnataka, the accused was hiding in Tamil Nadu and threated the family of the victim.

–IANS

mka/rad