KOLKATA: A 48-year-old YouTuber from Bengal with almost 4.3 million followers and his teenage son were arrested in North 24 Parganas district’s Haroa on Sunday for allegedly raping a 15-year- old girl after luring her with the promise of featuring her in comedy and dance reels. The survivor’s father is a cop attached to Kolkata Police. Basirhat sub-divisional court remanded Arabindu Mondal in police custody for five days and sent his son to a juvenile offenders’ home. Investigators said father and son approached the Class 9 student several months ago with an offer to make shorts with her. The girl went with them to various locations for shoots, and the two allegedly filmed and photographed her secretly when she was changing. “The duo used this to blackmail her into silence after repeated sexual assault. Arabindu’s son even put vermillion on the part of her hair to suggest he would marry her, then raped her,” a police officer said. Sources said the girl’s family, who knew and trusted Arabindu, had no inkling of what she was being subjected to until she confided in them. The suspects were arrested immediately after Haroa police station registered an FIR under the Pocso Act on Sunday and recorded the survivor’s statement. Investigators seized phones, cameras and other devices from Arabindu, who runs two YouTube channels —one for videos and shorts of him performing skits, and another where he dances to Hindi and Bengali songs.
