Gujarat police begins probe after videos of women patients uploaded on Telegram, YouTube

Ahmedabad: A probe was launched after videos of women patients being examined by doctors inside a hospital were circulated on Telegram and YouTube, a Gujarat police official said on Monday.

The Cyber Crime Branch began its probe after some of these videos started circulating on social media platforms. In the videos, which appear to be from CCTV footage, women patients can be seen being examined inside a closed room of a hospital by a female doctor or being given injection by a nurse.

A preliminary probe revealed the accused created a Telegram group linked to a YouTube channel where these videos were uploaded, said Assistant Commissioner of Police (Cyber Crime) Hardik Makadia.

"The accused had uploaded seven such videos on the Youtube channel and had given the link of a Telegram group in the description. Members of that group were asked to pay a fee to watch similar videos. To attract members to pay subscription, the accused had shared screen grabs of similar videos," Makadia told reporters.

A preliminary probe revealed the Telegram group was launched in September last year while the Youtube channel was launched in January this year.

"The channel has so far uploaded seven videos of women being examined by doctors on a bed inside the hospital. The Telegram group promoting that channel has over 90 members. The videos appear to be taken from CCTV footage. In one such video, a nurse and woman patient can be heard conversing in Gujarati. We are yet to identify the hospital where these videos were shot," Makadia said.

The process to lodge a First Information Report (FIR) is underway, the ACP added.

Sources said the videos are from the labour room of a maternity hospital in Rajkot.

Rajkot West BJP MLA Dr Darshita Shah said she has asked police to probe the issue.

Meanwhile, an official from Payal Hospital in Rajkot told reporters "someone must have hacked our footage".

"We have not done anything wrong. We will cooperate with the police in their investigation," the hospital official said.