Team Goemkarponn
PANAJI: The North Goa Additional Sessions Court has refused bail to Saurabh Sahni, a 47-year-old from Lucknow, who was arrested by the Crime Branch for allegedly circulating a viral video showing the sexual harassment of a foreign woman.
The case originated after the Goa Police’s Social Media Monitoring Cell flagged an objectionable clip that began spreading on Facebook. The video, said to have been shot in 2024 at Tito’s Lane in Baga, depicts a group of men surrounding a foreign national, making explicit advances and allegedly soliciting sexual services.
Investigators carried out a technical probe which traced the social media account used to share the footage to Sahni. He was subsequently arrested on April 15, 2026.
While rejecting the bail plea, the court noted that uploading and distributing such content for online traction and potential financial gain amounts to a grave offence. The judge also underscored the broader consequences, stating that such acts harm Goa’s reputation as a safe destination for visitors.
The court further observed that incidents of this nature erode the confidence of international tourists and adversely affect the livelihoods of people dependent on the state’s tourism sector.
