Sexual assault case: Briton used to have lewd chats with over 33 minors

New Delhi: A British national, who was arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting three visually-impaired minor inmates of the National Association for the Blind (NAB), used to have chats with “sexual undertones” with over 33 other inmates, the police said on Tuesday.

“We are going through content recovered from the mobile phone and laptop of the accused. It will be corroborated with the victims. We are also identifying places visited by the accused during the last few years,” said a senior police official.

Murray Denis Ward, a frequent visitor to the institute, was arrested on Sunday for inappropriately touching three minor inmates on September 2.

The police said that his phone and laptop were seized by the cyber cell of the Delhi police and their contents were being examined. Some objectionable clips were found on them and the police is verifying whether some of it also included the victims, said a senior police officer.

The police has roped in an NGO to counsel the victims and to help them open up about their ordeal. A caretaker of the institute had made a short video of the accused and handed it over to the police.

During the investigation, it has been found that the accused was in touch with 28 other students of the institute and would often send them messages with sexual references. He used to interact with the students through an app that ensured that the visually-impaired students could communicate, said an officer.

The police is probing whether the accused had tried to assault the inmates with whom he was in touch. However, the accused claimed that he was educating the inmates about “sex,” said an officer requesting anonymity.

It is being probed whether he was part of any group involved in sharing material pertaining to paedophilia, said an officer.

The accused had suffered a paralytic attack in February and had quit his job with a Gurgaon-based MNC in April. He used to donate study material to the institute and would also take classes there. He had been associated with NAB as a regular donor for almost nine years.

He is currently in police custody where a doctor is conducting his regular medical check-ups because of his health condition.

It was found that the accused had taken the inmates inside a room where he touched their private parts and tried to force himself on them.