Bengaluru man arrested for filming women without consent, posting videos on Instagram
Gurdeep Singh was detained after viral post exposed his account sharing unsolicited videos of women in public places; police to seek Meta's intervention
A 26-year-old man was detained in Bengaluru for running an Instagram account that allegedly shared unauthorised videos and photos of women shot in public places.
The arrest was made after a woman’s viral Instagram post exposed the account, which featured slow-motion clips of women on streets like Church Street and Koramangala. The videos had ostensibly been taken without the permission of the women.
The suspect, identified as Gurdeep Singh, an unemployed hotel management graduate was picked up at his residence in KR Puram area of Bengaluru. Singh, who lives with his brother, is now in police custody after officers took up the case on their own.
This comes after 27-year-old Diganth from Hassan district, was arrested in June for posting unsolicited images and videos of women commuting on the metro.
Videos of women
Singh’s clips on Instagram featured women walking in public spaces and on Church Street, a popular commercial area in Bengaluru, often appearing startled when the camera was pointed at them. Several videos also showed women being followed discreetly as the person behind the lens captured footage under the guise of documenting "street chaos."
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The videos gained attention when a woman raised the alarm on Instagram alleging she had been recorded without her knowledge or permission while walking in the city. Further, she said that her attempts to get the videos removed failed.
Filing reports through Instagram's built-in mechanisms too reportedly led nowhere.
Not how consent works
In her post, the girl had highlighted that Singh was walking around Church Street pretending to film the 'chaos' but all he was doing was following women and recording them without their consent.
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“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 wrote.
What’s worse is that she started to receive vulgar messages from strangers online because of the videos.
Instagram's internal policies
According to the police, efforts to pull down the Instagram account have been complicated by the platform's internal policies.
Police said they are preparing to ask for judicial intervention to get Meta, Instagram's parent company, to take down the account.
Earlier case
Just weeks earlier, another troubling case had emerged in Bengaluru involving a different social media account. In this account, the person posted unsolicited images and videos of women commuting on the metro.
The account got a lot of traction for its invasive content and added to growing concerns about digital harassment in public spaces.
The man behind that account, Diganth (27) was arrested in June. An employee in the accounts department of a private firm, he admitted to filming women during his daily commute.
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The Instagram account, which had gained over 5,000 followers, was reported by users on X. After a formal complaint and subsequent investigation, the platform took it down.