Mysore Mallige scandal – Boy and girl Then and Now
The Mysore Mallige scandal shook the conscience of the entire nation in 2001. It involved a sex-video leak. A home-made video made by a couple broke out when a friend of the boy leaked out the video. Both the boy and the girl were students of the Malnad college of engineering. The boy and the girl were forced to marry after the scandal broke out, but they divorced after that. The boy involved has now migrated to the United States.
Mysore Mallige is a name for the Jasmine flower of Mysore (in Kannada), and it was the name given to the sex-tape leaked out by the friend of the boy. The couple captured their lovemaking and the footage was leaked when the boy tried to get the tape converted to a CD.
Later, one of the boy’s friends got hold of the footage and posted it on the internet under the name Mysore Mallige. Once the footage went viral, a police investigation started and the boy who leaked it was identified and beaten up by the victim girl’s family. But by now, the video was widely circulated on CDs, and the couple was forced to marry in a police station. They were separated later. The girl still lives in Bangalore, whereas the boy migrated to the US. The story was first reported by the Late Ravi Belagere, a famous Bangalore Journalist.
Mysore Mallige became a widely circulated video, sold for pornographic consumption, and caused tremendous distress to the families involved. It soon turned into a matter of discussion for scholars and policymakers who needed to upgrade policies and viewpoints on cyberlaw, pornography, exhibitionism and voyeurism. Bharath Murthy, a filmmaker, even made a documentary film that showcases different people’s responses after seeing the clip. It is titled Jasmine of Mysore and was released in 2007. Since then, this incident has acquired a cult status.
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