Mumbai, March 26 Two people were arrested in Ahilyanagar, Maharashtra, for allegedly circulating obscene videos of the women victims of self-proclaimed godman Ashok Kharat on social media, a senior police official said on Thursday.
Kharat was arrested on March 18 for allegedly repeatedly raping a woman over the past three years. An investigation into the case has uncovered several videos of him exploiting women.
Following the discovery of some of these videos on social media, including WhatsApp groups, by the SIT investigating the case, action was taken, the official said.
He said Rahul Gangadhar Shinde, a resident of Kopargaon in Ahilyanagar, shared a video of one of the victims on a WhatsApp group on March 25, which was then forwarded by Yogesh Pandharinath Aadhav, also of Kopargaon, to his friend Sandip Garje of Majalgaon in Beed.
The Kopargaon police station registered a case under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Information Technology Act, and arrested Shinde and Aadhav, while efforts are underway to apprehend Garje, the official said.
Confirming the arrests, Ahilyanagar Superintendent of Police Somnath Ghughe warned that anyone circulating such objectionable videos, including administrators of social media groups, would face immediate arrest and further legal action.
Meanwhile, IPS officer Tejaswini Satpute, heading the Special Investigation Team (SIT) in the Kharat case, appealed to citizens, news channels, journalists, and social media users not to share, forward, or publish any form of videos of the victims.
The SIT is investigating at least six cases linked to Kharat, including those related to rape, human sacrifice, and black magic.