Women bathing pictures at Maha Kumbh sold online; case filed
What's the story
The Uttar Pradesh Police have filed a case against two social media handles for allegedly posting and selling videos of women pilgrims bathing at the ongoing Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj. The police's social media monitoring team found that certain platforms were uploading videos of women bathing and changing clothes, violating their privacy and dignity.
Misinformation crackdown
How the pictures were circulated
According to India Today, users were lured into purchasing full-length videos on platforms such as Telegram by using these posts as teasers. The channel's investigation found that Facebook pages promoting explicit content were using hashtags like #mahakumbh2025, #gangasnan, and #prayagrajkumbh to post such videos. Several Telegram channels were also identified, providing access to private groups with names such as "Ganga River Open Bathing Group" and "Hidden Bath Videos Group."
Legal action
Cases registered against Instagram and Telegram accounts
On February 17, a case was filed against an Instagram account for allegedly posting inappropriate videos of women pilgrims. A second case was registered on February 19 against a Telegram channel discovered offering similar videos for sale. The crackdown was ordered by Uttar Pradesh police chief Prashant Kumar as part of efforts to curb misleading and offensive social media content in connection with the Maha Kumbh. The police have also approached Meta, Instagram's parent company, to trace the account operators.