The Bengaluru police have arrested a 19-year-old food delivery boy for allegedly taking photos and videos of women on roads without their consent and uploading them on Instagram, officers said on Thursday.
According to the police, the accused, M D Dilavar Hussain, a native of Manipur, posted videos of women, especially those walking on Church Street, Brigade Road, and MG Road, and posted them with the tagline, ‘Bangalore Night Life’ on his Instagram page ‘DILBAR JAANI-07’ to gain more followers and comments.
He used to add background music of either Bengali or other languages to portray women in a bad light, the police said.
Ashok Nagar police have registered a suo motu case under Section 67 for publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form of the Information Technology Act.
The Bengaluru police said similar cases are on the rise in the city as a section of social media tends to adopt fraudulent means to gain traction and identity. “We see more of such videos being uploaded on Instagram to gain popularity, followers, and their responses,” said a police officer.
On July 9, the city police arrested a 26-year-old hotel management graduate for allegedly filming women walking on Bengaluru’s streets and posting the voyeuristic videos on Instagram.
In May, the police booked a case against unknown persons who secretly filmed women on Namma Bengaluru Metro trains and posted videos online. The account, named Bangalore Metro Clicks (@metro_chicks), had 5,605 followers, while its linked Telegram channel Speedy_Weedy123 had 1,188 subscribers.