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Indian PhD student Bilal Kazi jailed in UK for 30 years for preying on young girls on Snapchat. He was overstaying his student visa

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Ghosh, P. (2026, November 13). Indian PhD student Bilal Kazi jailed in UK for 30 years for preying on young girls on Snapchat. He was overstaying his student visa. Times of India. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/uk/indian-phd-student-bilal-kazi-jailed-in-uk-for-30-years-for-preying-on-young-girls-on-snapchat-he-was-overstaying-his-student-visa/articleshow/135815764.cms

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Times of India · collected 2026-11-13 · by Poulomi Ghosh
Content note This article describes abuse of a child, sexual violence and suicide or self-harm.

Quick Summary

Bilal Kazi, a 27-year-old Indian PhD student who overstayed his visa in the UK, was sentenced to 30 years in prison for tricking more than 70 girls into sharing explicit images via a fake Snapchat profile. Police traced 71 victims following a 2021 investigation, though authorities believe the actual number of victims could be as high as 180. The report highlights the severity of Kazi's actions, noting that he used threats to obtain photos and that one 13-year-old victim attempted suicide after he circulated an explicit video of her to nearly 100 of her friends.
Written by AI on 2026-11-14, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).
See how they differ ↓

How they differ

4 outlets covered “Indian PhD student Bilal Kazi jailed in UK for 30 years”.

What each outlet says

One AI summary per outlet of its latest article on this story, written from that article alone and checked against it. Open the article for the outlet's own words.

Times of IndiaThis outlet13 Nov

Bilal Kazi, a 27-year-old Indian PhD student who overstayed his visa in the UK, was sentenced to 30 years in prison for tricking more than 70 girls into sharing explicit images via a fake Snapchat profile. Police traced 71 victims following a 2021 investigation, though authorities believe the actual number of victims could be as high as 180. The report highlights the severity of Kazi's actions, noting that he used…

Indian PhD student Bilal Kazi jailed in UK for 30 years for preying on young girls on Snapchat. He was overstaying his student visa (this article)
Daily Mail13 Nov

Bilal Kazi, a 27-year-old Indian chemistry student who overstayed his visa, was sentenced to 30 years in prison for posing as a 14-year-old boy named Reece to trick over 70 girls into sharing explicit images. The court heard that Kazi targeted children as young as 11 on platforms like Snapchat and Roblox, using blackmail to extract footage and even causing one 13-year-old victim to attempt suicide. While police…

Indian student who posed as teenage boy on Snapchat to trick over 70 girls into sending explicit images of themselves jailed for 30 years →
BBC13 Nov

Bilal Kazi, a 27-year-old student from India, was sentenced to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty to 37 charges involving the grooming of at least 70 girls between August 2021 and August 2025. Kazi manipulated victims aged 10 to 17 into sending sexually explicit content by posing as a 14-year-old British boy on apps like Snapchat, Wink, and Roblox. The court heard that Kazi used blackmail and hacking to coerce…

Man jailed for grooming at least 70 girls online →
Evening Standard13 Nov

Judge Steven Everett sentenced 27-year-old Bilal Kazi to 30 years in prison for 33 child sex offenses committed between 2021 and 2025. Kazi posed as a 14-year-old boy named "Reece" to groom at least 19 victims, including a 10-year-old, across platforms like Snapchat, Wizz, and Roblox. The court heard how Kazi pressured girls into sending naked media and leaked images online, causing severe psychological damage and…

Online child sex groomer jailed for 30 years →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 9% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
BBC News
Hedges 1 of 44 claims Outlet record 66/100
Evening Standard
Hedges 3 of 36 claims Outlet record 64/100

Story

Indian PhD student Bilal Kazi jailed in UK for 30 years
Other · 4 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↑
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
22
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
9%
2 of 22 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
59/100
Times of India's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
4
Other
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-11-14 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Times of India · 4877 article(s) · 5 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 5 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Poulomi Ghosh
132 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
"I’ve struggled with anxiety and I often worry about who has seen the images and whether they exist and could be shared again," she said.
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What will happen to affected employees?
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Also by Poulomi Ghosh
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 132 articles by Poulomi Ghosh →

Topics

Birmingham University Chester Indian Mumbai the University of Chester

Subjects

Kazi PERSON · 10× Bilal Kazi PERSON · 2× Birmingham University ORG · 1× Chester GPE · 1× Indian NORP · 1× Kuwait GPE · 1× Mumbai GPE · 1× Reece PERSON · 1× Steven Everett PERSON · 1× the University of Chester ORG · 1×

Narrative

The judge said Kazi had taken advantage of a "lack of proper security on social media sites which should have been there to prevent young persons from being taken advantage of by sexual predators like you".
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-11-14
"I’ve struggled with anxiety and I often worry about who has seen the images and whether they exist and could be shared again," she said.

Claims (22 extracted, 2 hedged)

27-year-old Bilal Kazi, an Indian PhD student who tricked more than 70 girls into sharing explicit images by posing online as a teenage boy, has been jailed for 30 years. asserted
who → trick → years
He created a fake online profile posing as a blond-haired boy called Reece. asserted
He → create → boy
He used to chat with young girls, as young as ten, and then convinced them to believe that they were in a relationship. asserted
they → use → relationship
Then Kazi asked for sexually explicit photos and if they refused, he used to threaten them. asserted
he → ask → them
A court heard that one 13-year-old victim attempted suicide after Kazi circulated an explicit video of the victim that was seen by almost 100 of her friends. asserted
that → hear → friends
Judge Steven Everett, the Honorary Recorder of Chester, said Kazi had targeted 'children who believed they were safe in their own homes'. asserted
they → say → homes
The judge said Kazi had taken advantage of a "lack of proper security on social media sites which should have been there to prevent young persons from being taken advantage of by sexual predators like you". asserted
which → say → you
According to reports, Kazi is originally from Mumbai and studied for his PhD in Chemistry at the University of Chester in the UK. uncertain
Kazi → accord → UK
He later studied for a master's in chemical engineering at Birmingham University. asserted
He → study → University
But Kazi later overstayed his student visa. asserted
Kazi → overstay → visa
Police were first alerted in 2021 after he circulated images of one of his victims on social media. asserted
he → alert → media
A nationwide probe was launched into online sex abuse, and 71 victims were traced. asserted
victims → launch → abuse
But investigators believe that the actual number of Kazi's victims can be as high as 180, making it the worst case of its kind. asserted
it → believe → kind
A victim who was 12 when Kazi targeted her said the realization she had unwittingly sent explicit photos of herself to a grown man had left her feeling "upset, vulnerable and deeply uncomfortable." asserted
she → target → her
"I’ve struggled with anxiety and I often worry about who has seen the images and whether they exist and could be shared again," she said. uncertain
she → struggle → images
After police traced his identity following the initial report, Kazi was arrested at Heathrow Airport as he arrived back from Kuwait, where his family are believed to live in July 2023, Daily Mail reported. asserted
Mail → trace → July
His mobile was seized and taken for ‘forensic download’ before he was released on bail. asserted
he → seize → bail
Police found more than 400 indecent images and videos on his phone, plus a further 500 on his devices at his home in Birmingham. asserted
Police → find → Birmingham
Kazi was rearrested in March 2025. asserted
Kazi → rearreste → March
Confronted by the scale of his crimes, he answered "no comment" in response to questioning, with detectives saying he ‘showed no remorse’. asserted
he → confront → remorse
He was again bailed but police discovered he had secretly bought a new mobile phone and began targeting girls again. asserted
he → bail → girls
He was arrested for a third time in August 2025 and remanded in custody. asserted
He → arrest → custody
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