A WhatsApp group administrator was arrested for adding a woman to the group and sending pornographic videos. The woman told the police the group members shared obscene content after she was added to the WhatsApp group. The accused has been identified as 24-year-old Mustaq Ali Shaikh, a native of West Bengal. The police said the group admin's arrest could serve as a precedent for others to remain cautious while sharing such content and adding people on the messaging platform. The suspect now faces up to five years of jail term for adding a woman to the group without her consent.
In her complaint to the police, the woman, who is a housewife, said her number was added to a group named 'Triple XXX' in September, reported Times of India. Police said the woman earlier thought it was a prank by her friends. To her shock, she started receiving several obscene videos in the group. She immediately lodged a police complaint, stating not even a single number in the WhatsApp group was known to her.
The Mumbai police lodged the complaint and traced the administrator's mobile number from West Bengal. As per the report, the police had prepared a team to arrest the accused from the state. However, the mobile operator informed the cops that the number was on roaming in the Mumbai area.
The accused has been sent to police custody under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections and Sections 67 and 67-A of the IT Act for outraging the modesty of a woman.
During the police interrogation, the accused apologised and said the woman might have been wrongly added to the group. The accused also said he didn't know the woman. He said he added it, thinking it was his brother-in-laws' mobile number. One of his friends had formed the WhatsApp group, he said, assuring it had no woman members.
Meanwhile, Mustaq Ali Shaikh's mobile phone was seized. Forensic teams have been gathering data from his mobile phone to interrogate the matter. Police said they are also contacting other group members who could become a witness in the case. Police said Shaikh could get up to five years' of jail under the IT ACT, 2000.
Edited by Manoj Sharma