Andhra Pradesh police have arrested a Tiktok star under the POCSO Act for allegedly raping a 14-year-old girl in Visakhapatnam. Chipada Bhargav, also known as Fun Bucket Bhargav, is a Tiktok celebrity who became famous through the ‘supposedly’ funny videos that usually end with him exclaiming ‘Oh my God!’. His videos went viral on social media, regardless of language, because they were meant to be funny.
His perverse behaviour came to light on April 1 when the victim’s family lodged a complaint at the Pendurthy police station in Visakhapatnam. The victim is reportedly 4 months pregnant.
Apart from the POCSO Act, Bhargav has been charged under sections 376 (punishment for sexual assault) and 354 (assault or criminal offense against women) of the Indian Penal Code, police said. Subsequently, the accused Bhargav was arrested in Hyderabad and brought to Visakhapatnam. The case is being investigated at the Disha police station in Visakhapatnam.
Speaking at the press conference, the Vishakapatnam Disha police station’s Assistant Commissioner of Police Prem Kajal said, “The accused had promised to help her get a chance to appear on media channels after seeing her in Tiktok videos. He had then gone ahead to propose his love to her, which she had declined. Following this, he had intimidated her, claiming to have private videos of the woman, and had sexually assaulted her. She is currently pregnant.”
Police have warned people against sharing the photo of the victim on social networking sites. They also said that action would be taken against those who did so.
Meanwhile, photos of Nitya, a popular Tiktok celebrity, have been circulating on social networking sites, claiming that she was the said victim. She had allegedly acted with Bhargav in his videos. Nitya, however, denied the allegations and posted a video on her Instagram page explaining that she was not involved in the case.
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