A 26-year-old man has been arrested by Banashankari police for allegedly sharing voyeuristic photos and videos of women on social media without their consent.
The accused, Gurdeep Singh, a hotel management graduate from KR Puram in Bengaluru, was taken into custody following a complaint filed by a woman who discovered an inappropriate video of herself circulating online.
Police said the footage appeared to have been recorded without her knowledge and was later uploaded to Instagram.
Based on the complaint by police sub-inspector Praveen Hosur, a suo motu case was registered at Banashankari police station under Section 78 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (stalking) and relevant provisions of the Information Technology Act.
Police noted that the video soon went viral, subjecting the woman to online harassment and lewd comments.
A graduate student from a private college, the woman voiced her objection on Instagram. She alleged she had been secretly filmed while walking on Church Street and despite repeated efforts to have the video removed, the platform failed to take it down.
"Recently, there was a video of me shot in public on Church Street. It was shot very inappropriately and then posted online without my consent. I tried contacting the person behind the account, and there was no response," she said in an Instagram video.
"This person walks around Church Street pretending to film the 'chaos' — but in reality… follow women and record them without their consent. It happened to me. And I'm sure many others have no idea they've been filmed too. Just because my account is public doesn't mean I consent to be filmed publicly. That is not how consent works."
She also revealed that the video had subjected her to online abuse. "I tried reporting from multiple accounts. But apparently, it says that it follows community guidelines. I don’t even know the community guidelines for Instagram. The reels have been viewed by the minute, and people are finding my account. I have been getting vulgar messages."
Expressing concern about the wider impact, she added: "There are a lot of women like me who have been posted from that account, and the account has 10,000 followers. To see that this is becoming normal on social media, we need to speak up. We need to do the right things because while we are out there fighting for languages, I think there are more serious concerns to be addressed. I am tagging Bengaluru City police and cyber crime to help me take that account down, and I really hope you guys do as well because numbers speak."
Deputy Commissioner of Police Lokesh Jagalasar said the accused is currently unemployed and lives with his elder brother. He added, “He used to click pictures and shoot videos of women on the streets in an indecent manner and post it on Instagram.” Police are working with the platform to take down the offending page.
Before his arrest, Singh reportedly deleted all posts from the account. Police seized his phone and sent it to the forensic science laboratory in Madiwala for further examination.
Singh operated the Instagram handle @Indianwalk1m, where he had uploaded 45 voyeuristic videos featuring women walking in public places. The account had over 11,200 followers,According to The Hindu.
This case mirrors a similar incident from May, where 27-year-old Diganth, an accountant at a private firm, was arrested for posting voyeuristic videos of women commuters on Namma Metro via an anonymous Instagram page.
Reacting to the latest incident, Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah posted on X: “It pains me deeply to see women being secretly filmed and harassed in public spaces, with such videos circulated online at the cost of women’s dignity. This is not the Karnataka we stand for.
Many incidents have been reported in the last few days, and our government has taken immediate action against the offenders, who have been arrested. We are monitoring such activities closely.
We must ask ourselves: where is our society headed if women cannot walk freely without fear of voyeurism or harassment? Such acts are crimes and betray our values as a society.
To the women of our state: we stand with you. Your safety and dignity are our priority, and we will act firmly against such crimes.
I urge every citizen: if you come across such videos or accounts online, please report them immediately to the cyber cell by calling 1930 or visiting http://cybercrime.gov.in.”
