A 23-year-old fine arts student was arrested by KPHB police on Sunday for physically assaulting and blackmailing a BBA student and her family.
The accused, identified as Ponnana Prabhas, a native of Srikakulam district in Andhra Pradesh, was earlier arrested by the police in May for stalking and harassing her. According to the police, Prabhas and the 19-year-old victim met through a common friend and exchanged their phone numbers. A few days later, the accused started calling and texting her and her family member and he started using filthy language in his text messages. Following this, the victim lodged a complaint and a case was registered at the KPHB police station on May 7. Prabhas was arrested and remanded to judicial custody. Soon after he was released on bail, the accused started harassing the girl and threatening her mother with dire consequences. “The accused initially forced her to marry him, else he threatened to post her private photographs on social media. He later uploaded her videos that contain photos taken without her consent,” the police said. Prabhas assaulted the girl when she refused to have a physical relationship with him, the police said. Based on her complaint, the accused was arrested again on Sunday.
