Mumbai: Bombay Parsi Panchayat (BPP), which represents the Parsi-Irani Zoroastrian community in Mumbai, lodged a police complaint against a YouTuber and Instagram content creator for allegedly trespassing into the Tower of Silence (Doongerwadi), Malabar Hill in south Mumbai.The social media influencer, identified as Prince Sheetlaprasad Kanojia, was accused of illegally filming funeral rituals and posting the footage on social media. Cyber police have started blocking those sites.The complaint was filed by Adil Malia, a BPP trustee, who said that on May 22, he received an Instagram link on WhatsApp from a friend. On opening the link, he said it was a clip uploaded by Kanojia, who runs YouTube and Instagram channels under the name “ultimate-zone-prince”.The complainant alleged that Kanojia entered the privately owned and highly restricted Doongerwadi premises through an unauthorised route from Kamala Nehru Park and secretly filmed funeral proceedings, human remains and religious rituals without permission.The complaint further alleged that objectionable remarks were made in the video, hurting the religious sentiments of the community and disrespecting the dignity of the deceased. The video was allegedly uploaded for publicity and financial gain through social media platforms.Police said the Dakhmas, where the bodies are kept for final rites, are strictly restricted and accessible only to trained personnel. Even relatives of the deceased are not permitted entry into certain sections.Based on the complaint, Malabar Hill Police have booked Kanojia under various BNS sections of criminal trespassing, deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or beliefs, injuring or defiling place of worship, uttering words etc, with deliberate intent to wound religious feelings of any persons and Information Technology act.
