A 22-year-old college student allegedly lured a 19-year-old woman into a hotel room and assaulted her in Andhra Pradesh. The incident has once again exposed a disturbing trend of digital grooming, where social media interactions are being weaponised for physical assault and blackmail.
The survivor, a 19-year-old school dropout from Tirupati Rural, met the accused, a 22-year-old second-year student from Badwel in Kadapa district, on Instagram just ten days ago.
After a brief period of chatting, the two met on the evening of January 23. The accused took her to a hotel room where, at approximately 7:30 pm, he allegedly sexually assaulted and raped her. In a disturbing turn of events, CCTV footage from the hotel shows more boys arriving at the room shortly after, suggesting a premeditated plan to further exploit the young woman.
Fortunately, the survivor managed to run away from the hotel before the situation escalated further.
The survivor informed her mother of the assault, and the following day, they filed a police complaint.
Police teams have thoroughly searched the hotel room to collect forensic evidence.
The 19-year-old survivor was taken to Ruia Hospital for medical examination.
Upon inspecting the accused's phone, police discovered a history of luring girls on social media and found several "nude chats", indicating a pattern of predatory behaviour and potential blackmail, Alipiri circle inspector Ram Kishore told NDTV.
The officer confirmed that the 22-year-old accused is expected to be formally arrested today.
"This is a dangerous and disturbing trend among youngsters. The accused has a history of these interactions. We are also investigating the other individuals seen in the CCTV footage who arrived at the room with the suspected intent to take advantage of the girl," he said.
