Panaji, March 23 – The South Goa Police arrested 20-year-old Soham Sushant Naik in the early hours of Monday following a strong public outcry over an alleged sex scandal involving 25 to 30 minor girls. Naik, a resident of Madegal-Cacora and the son of a BJP municipal councillor, was taken into custody after a group of concerned citizens and local leaders picketed the police station.
The investigation suggests a disturbing pattern of abuse spanning the last three years. According to preliminary reports, the BJP councillor's son allegedly engaged in sexual relations with numerous minors, filming the encounters and subsequently using the footage to threaten the victims into silence.
The scandal came to light last week after Soham Sushant Naik allegedly boasted about his actions during a social gathering, showing explicit videos of the victims to his associates. As rumors of the sexual abuse recordings spread through South Goa, local tensions reached a boiling point.
However, before this, the case had been discussed in South Goa for the last few days. Local citizens gathered at the Kudchade police station on Sunday night seeking action as the case was linked to a local BJP councillor. Finally, the police took the councillor's son, Soham Naik, into custody.
This action came after the accused showed some videos to his friends at a drinking party last week. This led to the revelation of the years of alleged sexual abuse of minors by the BJP leader's son.
On Sunday, residents of Curchorem marched to the police station demanding a thorough investigation into the alleged sex racket videos involving minors.
The protestors had warned of a strike if the police failed to act immediately and arrest the accused within 48 hours. The residents had also demanded that the police register a suo motu FIR in the case rather than wait for the victims to come forward.
State Congress president Amit Patkar demanded that the government intervene, take suo motu cognizance, and order a prompt, impartial, and time-bound enquiry into the horrific case.
The South Goa Police are currently investigating the digital evidence and determining the full extent of the exploitation of the minor girls by Soham Sushant Naik.
Soham Sushant Naik remains in custody as forensic teams work to recover the alleged videos used for blackmailing the minor girls.