Goa court denies bail to UP man over solicitation video of foreign woman

The Goa police crime branch took suo-moto cognisance of a viral video circulating on various social media platforms

The District and Sessions Court in North Goa on May 4 denied bail of Uttar Pradesh-based Saurabh Sahni (48), who was arrested by Goa police for allegedly approaching a foreign woman for prostitution and uploading her video on social media.

The prosecution argued that Sahni’s act also tarnishes the image of Goa. (Representative Image/iStock)

Additional sessions judge Artikumari Naik of the Fast Track court ruled that his act “cannot be considered as a small trivial offence but it is a serious offence which deserves to be investigated thoroughly.”

The judge, agreed with the prosecution’s argument and said “uploading [the video] has spoiled the image of the state of Goa” and its tourism industry.

Sahni was arrested by Goa police on April 16 and charged with sexual harassment and exploitation of a trafficked person.

The Goa police crime branch took suo-moto cognisance of a viral video circulating on various social media platforms, which depicted unknown men negotiating with a woman who was allegedly soliciting near Tito’s Lane in Baga.

The police registered a case under sections 75 (sexual harassment) and 79 (outraging the modesty of a woman) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and sections 67 and 67-A (publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form) of the Information Technology Act, 2000.

The woman who was later identified, said in her statement that she was “approached by a group of unknown men who followed and encircled” her and made “unwelcoming and explicit sexual advances” and “repeatedly asked for sexual favours.” She claimed that despite her refusal, they continued pursuing her, asking her to accompany them to a hotel and inquiring about charges. She said her responses were not voluntary but made under coercion because she felt threatened and unsafe, which led her to leave.

Following her deposition, section 144(2) of BNS (exploitation of a trafficked person) was added to the list of charges against Sahni.

According to the police, the video was recorded in September 2024 and was reuploaded in April this year on his social media account after the initial upload failed to go viral.

“The applicant had no contact with the victim and the victim is unknown to him. Then what was the need for him to upload the video...thereby tarnishing the image of women . The video was of sexual favours which cannot be considered as a small, trivial offence but it is a serious offence which deserves to be investigated thoroughly,” judge said.

The prosecution argued that Sahni’s act also tarnishes the image of Goa, which is known as a safe and friendly tourist destination.

“Such incidents involving foreign nationals, especially women tourists, create a serious dent in the trust of tourists and severely damage tourism, which is the main source of livelihood for lakhs of Goans,” the judge said in her order.

“There was no need for the accused to upload the said video to get followers on social media. One cannot lose sight that mostly the videos are uploaded on social media to earn income as the most followers on the media gets monetary benefits. In view of above, the present bail application deserves to be dismissed,” the judge also said.

Advocate M Nazareth, representing Sahni sought leniency on grounds that the accused has no criminal antecedents and was willing to cooperate with the investigation.