The Central Bureau of Investigation has arrested an accused, resident of District Thanjavur (Tamil Nadu) in an ongoing investigation of a case. 

A case was registered against an accused & other unknown persons on the allegations of creating, collecting, seeking, browsing, downloading, exchanging/distributing material depicting children in sexually explicit act etc. in electronic form. 

CBI found Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) images & videos from the INTERPOL's Child Sexual Exploitation (ICSE) database. The analysis of the images using cyber forensic tools, location of incident was traced to Thanjavur District in Tamil Nadu. Analysis of videos revealed that a few victims were allegedly being sexually abused by male persons. 

It was alleged that the accused has been sexually abusing a child for last 4 years. It was further alleged that the accused forced victims to perform penetrative sexual acts on them as well on other minor children, including a minor victim girl; clicked photographs & recorded video; forced them to watch sexual acts with other adult person; threatened them with publishing the pictures/video on social media and for bringing more minor girls. It was also alleged that the arrested accused (aged about 35 years), resident of District Thanjavur (Tamil Nadu) is pursuing Ph.D. 

Searches were conducted at the premises of accused which led to recovery of incriminating electronic gadgets. 

It was alleged that the accused has been sexually abusing a child for last 4 years. It was further alleged that the accused forced victims to perform penetrative sexual acts on them as well on other minor children, including a minor victim girl; clicked photographs & recorded video; forced them to watch sexual acts with other adult person; threatened them with publishing the pictures/video on social media and for bringing more minor girls. It was also alleged that the arrested accused (aged about 35 years), resident of District Thanjavur (Tamil Nadu) is pursuing Ph.D. 

It may be recalled that considering serious nature of this menace, CBI set up a Specialised Unit in 2020 to handle cases of Online Child Sexual Abuse Material and joined INTERPOL's International Child Sexual Abuse Database {ICSE) in 2022. Further, 90th INTERPOL General Assembly hosted by India at New Delhi in 2022 passed an important resolution for supporting countries in their efforts to identify and investigate online child sexual exploitation. 

The resolution recognized that the protection of children is a priority for all INTERPOL member countries. INTERPOL’s International Child Sexual Exploitation database (ICSE) is a key instrument in this international effort, enabling the collection & analysis of abuse material, and collaboration among specialized units towards the apprehension of offenders & identification of child victims. It was agreed to strengthen cooperation regarding investigation of online child sexual exploitation and abuse offences. It is critical to have effective coordinated international response to this criminal activity, and to ensure the protection of children globally.