Mathura priest gets life term for filming obscene videos of minor girls, selling them to foreigners

A court in Uttar Pradesh's Mathura has sentenced a temple priest to life imprisonment for sexually exploiting adolescent girls, recording obscene videos of them and selling the footage to individuals living abroad, a government lawyer said on Sunday.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Brijesh Kumar pronounced the judgment on Friday, awarding life imprisonment to Shyam Bihari and imposing a fine of Rs 1.43 lakh, Assistant Advocate Rampal Singh said.

The case was investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) following information received from Interpol about the circulation of obscene videos involving minor girls.

𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗼𝗹 𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗿𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗖𝗕𝗜 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗲

According to the prosecution, Interpol alerted Indian authorities after information emerged about obscene videos of minor girls being sold to individuals overseas.

Acting on the information, the CBI registered a First Information Report (FIR) on June 17, 2025, and subsequently arrested Bihari from a temple located in a village under the Jaint police station area of Mathura.

Investigators found that the accused had exploited his position as a temple priest to gain access to girls visiting the religious premises.

𝗚𝗶𝗿𝗹𝘀 𝗹𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗽𝗿𝗮𝘀𝗮𝗱

The prosecution said Bihari would lure adolescent girls into a room inside the temple on the pretext of offering them prasad.

Once they entered the room, he would subject them to obscene acts and secretly record videos, which he subsequently sold online to people living outside India.

Singh said the circulation of the videos abroad brought the matter to Interpol's attention, leading to the alert sent to the Indian government.

𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗔𝘂𝗴𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱

Following Bihari's arrest, the CBI examined the allegations and collected evidence relating to the recording and online sale of the videos.

The agency filed its chargesheet before the court on August 18, 2025, after completing the investigation.

After examining the evidence and hearing the prosecution, the court convicted Bihari and awarded him life imprisonment along with the monetary penalty.

The judgment brings the criminal trial to a conclusion, more than a year after the CBI registered the case on the basis of information shared through Interpol.