A 36-year-old man was taken into custody by Kayamkulam police on Wednesday after he threatened to post videos of nude minor girls on Instagram. Badariya Manzil Mohammed Harris (36), a native of Sakthikulangara on the coastal belt of Kollam, is the accused.

Harris used to introduce himself as a film producer to school teachers and develop friendships with them by sending them pamphlets. Subsequently, he tricked teachers and took the minor students’ phone numbers, saying it was for a new movie audition. Allegedly, several such naive teachers fell for his propaganda.

After that, Harris would call these girls to see if they would be interested in attending an ‘audition.’ Next, those who were interested were to enact a movie scene. Harris complimented their performance and then asked them to change into different costumes for different scenes.

Haris got the minor girls to change their clothes there after convincing them the camera had been turned off. The paedophile recorded the girls on camera. The accused also made video calls to minors, took nude pictures and threatened to post them on Instagram.

In addition, he tactfully invited the girls he trapped to bring others and hustled them in the same way.

When the girls confronted Harris (after realising the scam), he threatened to release their footage on Instagram unless they kept quiet. Harris silenced several minor girls in this manner.

To obtain SIM cards for the crime, the accused used the names of the persons whose information he would gather in exchange for a job promise at the schools. The accused used poorly educated ones, promising them jobs in schools.

Harris was apprehended following an inquiry headed by the Chief of Police, Alappuzha District, Chaithra Theresa John IPS, Kayamkulam DySP Ajaynath led the team.

Harris has similar cases of recording nude minors registered against him in the police stations of Nooranad (Alappuzha district) and Kanakakunnu (Thiruvananthapuram district). Harris preyed on children all over Thiruvithankore.

In 2020, Kollam Eravipuram police booked him for sexually abusing a minor boy. Did our system (judicial leniency) put Harris on a loose leash just because he is an Islamist?