Youth befriends girl on Insta, extorts money with obscene video

Kanpur: A youth allegedly befriended a Class XI student on Instagram, recorded an obscene video of her and extorted money by threatening to make it public, in Bajaria police station area of Sisamau, police said.According to the FIR, lodged by the girl's mother, the victim is a 17-year-old student of Class XI. The accused has been identified as Prince Patel.The complaint stated that the girl came in contact with Prince Patel on Instagram about two years ago and the two began talking regularly through video calls. During this period, the accused allegedly lured the minor and secretly recorded an obscene video of her on his mobile phone.In Feb, 2025, Prince allegedly called the girl's father and demanded Rs 10,000, threatening to upload the video on social media and defame the family if the money was not paid. Panicked by the threat, the family transferred money to the accused through PhonePe in installments — Rs 1,500 on July 4, Rs 2,500 on July 8 and Rs 900 later — totalling Rs 4,900. Despite this, the accused allegedly continued to threaten the family and pressurised them to pay the remaining amount, causing severe mental distress to the girl and her family members.Bajaria inspector Arvind Sharma said that a complaint was received on January 1, following which an FIR was registered against the accused for recording an obscene video, extortion and criminal intimidation. "Raids are being conducted to arrest the accused," he added.