Expelled IIT-Guwahati scholar arrested in Bihar for stalking woman
What's the story
A 30-year-old man has recently been arrested for stalking and harassing a Ph.D. scholar at Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, the Powai police said on Monday. According to reports, the accused, who was a research scholar at IIT Guwahati, sent vulgar and threatening emails to the Ph.D. scholar, who is a 26-year-old woman living in Mumbai. Here are more details.
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Kumar started sending her obscene messages in 2015
The accused, who has been identified as Hemant Kumar, first met the woman when the two worked together in a Ranchi Research Center lab where they were studying between 2015 and 2016, Mid-Day reports. Kumar reportedly started sending her obscene messages on Facebook Messenger.
Initial harassment
Even after woman's complaint to professor, Kumar didn't stop
"The complainant started receiving vulgar messages on her Facebook Messenger after which she blocked the account," a police officer told Mid-Day. However, later Kumar created multiple accounts to continue stalking and harassing her. When the woman raised the issue of harassment with a professor at the lab, he issued a warning to Kumar. However, despite the warning, the harassment continued.
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Kumar threatened to commit suicide and blame her
The woman eventually moved to IIT-Bombay, however, she kept receiving obscene emails from various email addresses, police told Mid-Day. Reportedly, Kumar, who had joined IIT-Guwahati the same year, sent messages to her friends, and threatened to commit suicide and put the blame on her.
Later events
5 phone numbers, 9 email IDs used to harass woman
When Kumar started harassing her friends, the woman reported him to IIT's women's cell. Consequently, he was expelled from IIT-Guwahati. The police said Kumar used five different phone numbers and nine email IDs to harass the woman. After she continued receiving Kumar's messages during her time in Australia between 2017-18, the woman lodged a police complaint in April 2019, when she returned home.
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Kumar arrested from Purnia, Bihar, on Saturday
After receiving the woman's complaint, the police traced Kumar to Purnia in Bihar. He was arrested on Saturday and produced in court the next day. A case has been registered under IPC Section 354 (outraging modesty of a woman) and relevant sections of IT Act.