Bengaluru: Is Suresh Balaji a badminton coach or a sexual predator?
A search of the phone of this 26-year-old, after his arrest on charges of raping a 16-year-old, revealed explicit photographs of eight other minor girls. It is being suspected that he may have sexually abused them as well.
Originally from Tamil Nadu, Suresh worked as a coach at a badminton training centre in Hulimavu in Bengaluru.
His misdeeds came to light recently after a woman informed the police that he had raped her minor granddaughter on several occasions and warned her to remain quiet.
The girl joined the training centre two years ago. Suresh would call her home at times on the pretext of providing additional training. It was there that he exploited her sexually. It is now being suspected that Suresh not only raped minors but also clicked their explicit photographs.
He then threatened the girls into sending him more photographs. He would threaten to release the photographs that he had clicked on social media, unless they complied.
The matter came to light when the girl was visiting her grandmother. She used her grandmother’s phone to send Suresh a photograph of herself. However, before she could erase the image, her grandmother became aware and informed her parents.
The police arrested Suresh immediately. He claimed that he was innocent and being framed. However, a search of his phone revealed otherwise.
“We are speaking to the girls whose photographs have been found. It is possible that there are other victims. They may also come up and lodge complaints against the accused,” a senior police official said.
