Rape video on net: Odisha man arrested in Bengaluru

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, May 15:

In a major breakthrough, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) sleuths on Thursday arrested a man, hailing from Odisha, in Bengaluru for allegedly uploading sex videos of a woman being gang-raped that went viral on the internet.

The accused, identified as Kaushik Kuanr, was produced before a special CBI court today and taken on a four-day transit remand. The man in his early 30s will be taken to Delhi and then to Sitapur, reports reaching here said.

The suspect, a class 12 drop out, was residing in Bengaluru with his cousins for the past two years and was working as a driver, CBI sources said.

On Thursday evening, the CBI team raided Kuanr’s rented house in Bengaluru and seized over 500 porn clips, hidden cameras, high-end editing software and other equipment.

Notably, the Central investigating agency used sophisticated forensic software to track the origins of these video messages which went viral on social messaging platforms, including WhatsApp.

Three of the nine clips given to the agency by the Supreme Court for investigation were traced to Kuanr. In connection with one clip, the agency has already arrested two persons from Odisha, Kalia Sahu and Debashis Dev.

The CBI had registered eight FIRs and initiated preliminary enquiry after arresting Kalia Sahu alias Subrat Sahu, a property dealer from Bhubaneswar, on March 23.

On March 30, the CBI arrested Debashis Dev (30) alias Bunty in Cuttack on the charge of recording a video clip involving Kalia Sahu and his receptionist working in his office.

The apex court had taken suo motu note of a letter of Hyderabad-based NGO Prajwala on the posting of two rape videos on WhatsApp and had asked CBI to launch a probe forthwith to nab the culprits.

Dr. Sunita Krishnan, whose petition on behalf of ‘Prajwala’ led to the Supreme Court ordered CBI probe into rape videos, expressed satisfaction over the arrest of Kuanr but said more needs to be done.

“The arrest is no doubt a significant step in the investigation. But it is not enough to just go after the men who upload such things on the internet. The people who circulate them to hundreds and thousands of others are equally guilty. It is as if they are telling others; “I have enjoyed it. Now you do the same,” The next step therefore should be to go after them,” Krishnan told TS Sudhir on the ‘Up South’ programme on Headlines Today this evening.