Online gaming friendship turns nightmare, minor girl sexually abused in UP

A friendship struck up while playing a mobile game turned into a nightmare for a minor student, in a case that has come to light in the Beltarodi police station area of Nagpur.

According to police, a 17-year-old student living in the Beltarodi area was in the habit of playing the online game Free Fire on her mobile phone. Spending time on the game every day, she came into contact with Suraj Kumar Rajput, a resident of Sitapur in Uttar Pradesh. What began as contact limited to the game gradually turned into conversation.

Police say the conversation between the two grew steadily, and during this time the accused allegedly drew the student into a romantic trap. The daily conversations won her trust, and taking advantage of that trust, he lured her away to Uttar Pradesh. Police allege that once there, the student was sexually abused.

The incident took place on September 17, when the student suddenly went missing from her home. When her family could not find her, they searched extensively among neighbours and acquaintances on their own, but when no leads turned up, they went to Beltarodi police station and lodged a complaint. Police took the matter seriously and immediately began an investigation, pursuing the search for the student with the help of technical leads from her mobile phone and the internet.

During the investigation, police learned that the student was in Sitapur, Uttar Pradesh. On getting this information, a team from Beltarodi police left for Sitapur without delay. On reaching there, police carried out a search operation and eventually recovered the student safely. After the recovery, she was brought back to Nagpur.

According to police, in preliminary questioning the student accused the man of sexually abusing her. Following this, police took Suraj Kumar Rajput into custody and brought him to Nagpur. Further legal action is being taken against the accused under laws relating to minors, and police are closely investigating the entire sequence of events to establish how the accused trapped the student and what else he used to take her to Uttar Pradesh.