Rape accused held

Rajkot: A man was arrested on Tuesday night for raping a minor girl repeatedly by blackmailing her with photographs and a video clip of their intimate moments which he made viral on social media.

Police said that the victim is an 18-year-old woman is a resident of Ghatila village of Halvad taluka in Morbi district. The rape survivor alleges that when she was 16 years old, accused Siddharaj Solanki alias Prem (30), a resident of Halvad, raped her repeatedly for two years.

"The survivor has alleged that two years ago, Solanki had wooed her into a romantic relationship with him. He had taken her to his office in Halvad where he had sex with her. The accused had taken the photographs of their intimate moments and started blackmailing the survivor, threatening to make them viral. Then, he raped her many times at his whim and even recorded a video clip of their intimate moments. He also engraved his name on the girl's wrist with a blade," said Halvad police station inspector B C Vadhia.

A fortnight ago, Solanki made the photographs viral on social media site Instagram. The girl's family members came to know about this and they lodged the complaint on Tuesday evening. "The girl had attempted suicide by consuming poison on October 19. But she had not told her family the reason," added Vadhia.