Videos of women bathing at Maha Kumbh for sale at Instagram, Telegram

The Uttar Pradesh Police Wednesday said it has registered cases against two social media accounts for allegedly posting and selling objectional videos of women pilgrims bathing at the Maha Kumbh.

The action was taken under the directives of Uttar Pradesh police chief Prashant Kumar as part of an ongoing crackdown against misleading and offensive social media content related to the religious gathering.

The social media monitoring team detected that certain platforms were uploading videos of women bathing and changing clothes at the Kumbh in clear violation of their privacy and dignity, the police said in a statement,  Following this, cases were registered at the Kotwali Kumbh Mela police station and legal proceedings have been initiated, it said.

On February 17, a case was lodged against an Instagram account for allegedly posting inappropriate videos of women pilgrims.

The police said they have sought information from Meta, the technology conglomerate that owns and operates Instagram, to identify the account operator, and action, including arrest, will follow once the details are received.

In the second case, registered on February 19, a Telegram channel was found to be offering similar videos for sale. Legal proceedings have been initiated against the channel, and further investigation is underway, the statement said.

Police have reiterated their commitment to taking strict action against individuals misusing social media to spread objectionable content or misinformation related to the Maha Kumbh.