Vartak Nagar police arrested a 23-year-old man on Sunday for allegedly sexually assaulting a 15-year-old schoolgirl several times over a period of six months and blackmailing her. $50 thousand of them through blackmail.
The accused, identified as Pratamesh Desai, a resident of Lokmanya Nagar in Thane, was working as a delivery partner for a local courier company. Police said the victim and the accused lived in the same neighborhood and were known before.
According to investigators, between September 2025 and February 2026, Desai allegedly took the minor to isolated locations on several occasions and sexually assaulted her. Taking advantage of her fear and the fact that she belonged to a wealthy family, he began blackmailing her. He repeatedly threatened to reveal details of their “relationship” with her parents unless she paid him money.
“The accused molested the minor while simultaneously extorting money by threatening to disclose their relationship to her family. Initially, the girl arranged the payments by taking money from her parents and borrowing from friends to meet his escalating demands,” Senior Inspector Praveen Mani of Vartak Nagar police station said. Overwhelmed by constant physical and mental abuse and mounting financial pressures, the ordeal continued until the victim confided in her parents.
