Cops arrest Karnataka man who threatened to leak private videos of wife if she did not grant him divorce

Also Read: AP man kills mother-in-law for instigating wife to get a divorce

The backdrop

Patil was summoned to the Cybercrime Police Station in the Belagavi district after his wife approached the police and filed a complaint of blackmail against her husband.

In her complaint to the police, she alleged that her husband had recorded videos and photographs of their intimate moments on his phone and threatened to upload them on social media platforms if she did not grant him a divorce, a senior police officer told South First.

According to the police, the wife worked as a government school teacher and was earning more than her husband. However, he was allegedly having an affair with another woman, whom he wanted to marry after divorcing his wife.

Patil’s wife came to know about her husband’s affair and refused to divorce him. He then started to subject her to physical abuse and mental harassment, said the police.

She initially lodged a police complaint against him at the local police station for domestic violence. However, Patil continued to harass her and make things difficult for her at their house, the aforementioned senior officer said.

Also read: Domestic violence against women on the rise, says NCRB data

The complaint

In her complaint to the Cybercrime Police, the woman alleged that her husband was blackmailing her with her private pictures and videos, and threatened to upload them on social media platforms if she did not grant him a divorce.

Despite trying to convince him to not do so, he kept harassing her, the officer said.

“Based on her complaint, we registered an FIR under relevant sections of the Information Technology Act and for extortion under the Indian Penal Code, and summoned the accused for an inquiry on 27 December,” Belagavi Superintendent of Police (SP) Bheemashankar Guled told South First.

“During the inquiry, when we checked his mobile phone, we found the images and videos his wife had referred to. When he sensed that he could be arrested, he escaped from the police station and attempted suicide by drinking some poisonous substance,” he added.

“After allegedly consuming some substance, he returned to the police station and claimed that he had consumed poison,” said the SP.

“He was admitted to a nearby hospital for treatment. However, he told the doctors at the hospital that he had not consumed any poison and it was all a drama to teach his wife a lesson,” he added.

“He was subsequently discharged, following which he was arrested by the police, who produced him in court. There, a magistrate remanded him in judicial custody,” the SP said.