Bengaluru: Youth arrested for extorting gold, silver from girlfriend

BENGALURU: When he opened the cupboard at his residence after a year to search for insurance papers, he was in for a shock: 1.9kg of gold and 5kg silver had disappeared. But what came as a greater shock was police finding that one of those who received the missing valuables was his minor daughter's boyfriend.
Preliminary investigation revealed his 17-year-old daughter was a victim of blackmail and extortion. Byatarayanapura police arrested Sunil (name changed), a 20-year-old college-going youth, and recovered some valuables from him.
Police said the story of the missing jewellery unfolded when the girl's father Raman (name changed) slipped into depression after losing his father in 2018 and wife in 2021. He hadn't bothered to check the valuables stored in the house and reportedly could not focus on his daughter too. Meanwhile, Sunil, who was the girl's senior, became close to the girl and the two reportedly fell in love. Police said Sunil had kept photos and videos of their private moments.
When Raman realised about the missing jewellery and confronted his daughter about it, she confessed to having given it to Sunil when he had threatened to leak their videos online. He had also threatened to paste her photos on the college premises, police said. She initially gave him Rs 17,500 in cash, gold and silver, she told Raman.
Police registered sexual harassment, extortion and cybercrime case against Sunil based on Raman's complaint. According to police, Sunil insisted he was in love with the girl and that she voluntarily gave him some jewellery. He claimed to have taken only 300 grams of gold from her. Cops are now trying to trace the remaining valuables.