The Kota police have arrested a 29-year-old man for allegedly molesting a minor girl after scaring her with a cobra he kept illegally at his home, and cheating people, officials said.
The police have seized the cobra and counterfeit Indian currency notes valued at Rs 7.20 lakh from Mohammed Imran's possession in Rajasthan's Kota, they said.
Imran, a native of Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh, lived with his wife in a rented accommodation under the Railway Colony police station area in Kota, the officials said.
On Sunday, a victim lodged a complaint against Imran at the Railway Colony police station, alleging that the accused molested his minor niece, filmed vulgar videos with her, and duped his father of Rs 1.36 lakh, Kota City SP Amrita Duhan said.
The complainant also accused Imran of keeping a cobra in his room to frighten women and girls before molesting them and to cheat people.
Imran was produced before a court on Wednesday, which sent him to police custody till May 23.
Imran has been booked under the relevant sections of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, BNS, Information Technology (IT) Act, and Wildlife Protection Act, the SP said.
His wife Asmeen, 25, has also been booked under the POCSO Act and IT Act though she has not been arrested yet, SP Duhan added.
A team of forest officials was called in to rescue the cobra from the accused's room. According to the SP, the accused also worked as a quack and claimed to treat people with medicinal plants.
The complainant came across Imran's illegal acts when he happened to check his mobile phone, in which he found objectionable videos of his niece with the accused. When he asked his niece, she revealed her ordeal, the police said.
Imran, she said, would threaten to kill her with the cobra if she disclosed her ordeal to anyone else, Railway Colony police station SHO Ramswroop said.
Asmeen would shoot her husband's acts with the minor girl with a mobile phone, the SHO alleged.
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