In a related development, police in Assam arrested two local men and a 22-year-old Bangladeshi woman on February 3 for alleged production of pornographic content. Dispur Police arrested the three after they were found in a hotel room in Guwahati.
The suspects have been identified as Shafikul and Jahangir, both residents of Assam, while the Bangladeshi woman was named Meen Akhtar. According to police reports, the group had booked rooms at a hotel in the Super Market area of Guwahati to shoot the obscene videos. The woman reportedly entered India from Bangladesh on the pretext of false employment and without a visa and passport.
The police are investigating the case to see whether it is linked to a wider network of criminal activities. In India, though consumption of pornography in private is allowed, its production, distribution, or public exhibition is not legal. According to Section 293 of the Indian Penal Code, distribution or sale of pornographic material to any person below 20 years is not allowed. Similarly, Section 292 prohibits the public exhibition of obscene materials.
This is not the first such incident. In March 2024, 13 men and five women, including one Bangladeshi national, were arrested in Maharashtra for producing pornographic material in a Pune bungalow. The arrests in that case, too, had their share of people from several states, pointing to an alarming trend in the region.
