Mumbai Shocker: 47-Year-Old Tech-Savvy Man Arrested In Dahisar For Cyber Sexual Harassment Of Woman He Called ‘Sister’; Used VPN, Fake Profile

Mumbai: In a shocking case of cyber sexual harassment, the Dahisar Police have arrested a highly educated man for sending obscene and defamatory emails to a 30-year-old woman, with whom he was closely acquainted. Police said the accused misused his knowledge of technology to hide his identity and harass the woman after a personal dispute.

The complainant, a senior executive at a private firm, lives in Dahisar. Since November last year, she began receiving emails containing explicit and defamatory content that also revealed sensitive details from her personal life. The sender had hidden his identity using advanced cyber techniques, making it difficult to trace.

Disturbed by the emails, she filed a complaint at the Dahisar police station. Police registered an FIR under relevant sections of the IPC and the Information Technology Act, including charges of sexual harassment, defamation, and transmission of obscene material.

Used VPN to Hide Identity: Investigations revealed that the accused had used a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to mask his digital footprint, making tracking challenging. In a further blow to the woman, an Instagram account was also created in her name to malign her image.

With the help of cyber experts, the Dahisar Police initiated a technical investigation. They sought data from Google and Instagram, eventually tracing the Gmail recovery account linked to the emails. After analyzing the IP address, they narrowed it down to four users. One of them turned out to be the accused.

'Brother' Turned Harasser: To the woman’s utter shock, the accused was none other than Mohit Shah (47), a neighbor who had considered her a sister. Shah had lived in England for several years and returned to India in 2021 following a dispute with his wife. He had been residing with his parents in Dahisar since then.

Their acquaintance developed during this time, and Shah often acted protective towards her. During Navratri celebrations, he had objected to her playing dandiya late at night and accompanying her male friends, which led to arguments. Police believe this triggered the accused to seek revenge.

Using his technical skills and access to IT resources from his previous job, Shah created a virtual identity and sent the abusive emails. He also created the fake Instagram profile to further humiliate her. Shah has been remanded to police custody as further investigations continue.

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