Sambhal: Meharulnisha and Mehak, two sisters from a Sambhal village, have been on a quest for internet fame. Their humorous, innuendo and expletive-laden content on the mehakpari143 Instagram page has gone viral, regularly clocking over a million views. With over 5 lakh followers and just as many haters, they had attained influencer status. What they didn’t expect was that their 30-second clips would get them arrested.
“We felt bad after hitting the post button on Instagram, we swore only on videos. In reality, we do not say any cuss words,” said Mehak (20). Both she and her sister (21) were granted bail a day after their arrest on 15 July. The sisters had movie star aspirations. They idolised Sridevi, Kareena Kapoor and Deepika Padukone. But they knew that it was out of reach, so they turned to social media—their own big screen.
Now they are the talk of the town. No one is happy that the women have been given bail so early.
“They should have been kept for a few more days so that they learn what mistake they have committed,” said Bappu, an auto driver, who has been following their journey on Instagram.
The resentment toward the women had been growing for years, and it was not just about their social media. The sisters had a reputation for being outspoken and independent. The conservative villagers found their behaviour “disgraceful”. And with their online presence, the number of people triggered by them grew beyond the neighbourhood. Sambhal police were tagged under their reels, asking for them to be arrested. The police took cognisance and filed a case against four people: Meharulnisha, Mehak, Hina and Jarrar Aalam. The latter are also Sambhal-based influencers and frequent collaborators of the sisters. They were arrested from Aalam’s studio in Pakbada, near Moradabad, on Tuesday and charged under Section 67 of the IT Act (publishing obscene material online) and Section 296 of BNS (public obscenity).
“Anyone who distributes, creates, publishes, prints obscene acts or performs obscene acts in public, is not only violating morality but is also destroying the public space,” Krishan Kumar Bishnoi, SP Sambhal, told ThePrint.
In a country bursting with influencers hungry for traction, Meharulnisha and Mehak are not the only ones creating such content on social media. Shock is the internet’s most powerful currency, and small-town women cursing and making sexually-coloured remarks attract eyeballs. The two women from Sambhal also saw such reels on their timeline. The format was set—revealing clothes and a slew of expletives in Hindi. It was an easy ticket to fame.
But influencer status isn’t just an intangible asset; it’s a path to a solid income. The sisters said they took home around Rs 10,000 per month from Instagram through brand deals. But the villagers couldn’t look beyond the ‘vulgarity’. The family has been ostracised in a bid to restore “peace and purity”.
“We have kids at home, what will they learn? The sisters are a bad influence,” said Mohammad Kamil, who lives one lane away from them.
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The ‘disgraceful’ family
Meharulnisha and Mehak live with their mother and eight siblings in a one-storey building in Shahbazpur Kalan village in Sambhal. The Muslim-majority locality is famous for its production of edible silver foil, popularly known as chandi ka warq. The continuous sound of hammering of the silver foil echoes in the narrow lanes of the village.
The sisters’ household was also engaged in this. They joined the family business once they graduated from eighth grade. With the money they saved through their work and their father’s help, the sister bought a scooter in 2020. This was a turning point in their public life.
Riding around the village and running errands on the vehicle was a kind of freedom the women in the village weren’t accustomed to, and the men weren’t willing to digest. It is a very conservative society.
“We bought the scooter after dreaming about it for years. But our neighbours never liked it, they would come and taunt us, saying “Papa ki pari aa gayi (Papa’s princesses are here)”, said Mehak. Their Instagram account’s name is a reference to the taunts from the men of the village.
Well before their Instagram account went viral, the women were used to being looked down upon.
“It was common for the men in the village to tease us or talk rudely with us. They have a problem with women earning and standing on their feet”, said Mehak.
In 2022, their father was diagnosed with a kidney ailment. Routine dialysis and hospital visits meant the foil business came to a standstill. Their mother, Naeema, stepped up, taking on the role traditionally reserved for the man of the house. Like her daughters, she was outspoken. The villagers criticised her, too, with a neighbour calling her “disgraceful”.
“I have made the terrace of this house by taking help from my Chamar brothers, who are experts in construction,” said Naeema. She never used social media and only came to know about the reels on the day police arrested her daughters.
“My daughters are naive; they did not want to hurt anyone’s sentiments. I am scared something will happen to them,” she said. Naeema stands strongly with her daughters.
The sisters have always been the focus in the village for their outspoken, unfiltered and blunt attitude.
“We do not have friends in the village, we never have. We sisters were always there for each other,” said Meharulnisha.
Their mother’s support empowered them to live life on their own terms. Out on bail, they are now at Aalam’s studio near Moradabad. Wearing black and yellow kurtas and full face of makeup—pink and silver eye shadow, highlighter and pink lips—they haven’t made themselves smaller despite the unwanted attention.
When they started their Instagram account a year ago, they filmed their regular lives—eating at a local restaurant, riding a scooty in the scenic lanes of the district.
Around two months ago, the sisters started posting the content they’re now in trouble—shorter and tighter clothes, sports bras, expletives and innuendos.
“We are not saying do not make reels, but this obscenity is intolerable,” said 20-year-old Raja Pasha, a neighbour.
The two sisters would often choose a secluded area in their village to make their reels. Once they got to the sport, they’d take off their shirts and shoot videos in a sports bra. In a video posted four days ago, they are seen saying, “Dushman banana padta hai zamana b******ke itna asan nahi hai humare jaisa naam kamana (To make a name for yourself, you have to make some enemies)”.
The video has more than nine million views and 50 thousand likes.
In April, they also started posting on YouTube. The channel has over 45,000 subscribers.
“We earn around Rs 5,000 to 10,000 per month from promotion on our Instagram, our YouTube is not monetised,” said Meharulnisha.
The sisters give around half their income to running the house, but their mother said that it makes little difference to their financial situation.
“We move from onion roti to chole roti for some time. Meat is a dream for me and my kids,” said Naeema.
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A fantasy series
Three months ago, the trajectory of Meharulnisha and Mehak’s online presence changed. It’s when influencers Hina and Jarrar Aalam got in touch with the sisters via Instagram.
Hina started her career four years ago. She has two Instagram profiles—one with one lakh followers, dedicated to dance videos and another with over four lakh followers, which has more sexual innuendo-based content. Aalam is a local YouTube star with more than six lakh subscribers.
“I really admired the way these two girls made videos. I thought I should include them in my ongoing YouTube series,” said Aalam.
The two sisters were cast in Aalam and Hina’s YouTube series–Jugnu Pari. They were living their dream of being actors. The almost 20-minute videos have a storyline about fairies and their lives. The two sisters play the role of fairies, wearing white embroidered gowns that they bought with the money they earned through Instagram.
Eighteen episodes of the series are out on the channel Aalam Vines.
The entire series is shot in a 2BHK rented apartment-turned studio. The show was gaining momentum in Sambhal’s villages, but filming came to a halt in the summers because of the excessive heat.
After their arrest, Aalam and Hina are taking a break from content creation. The two are scared and apologetic. All four of the arrested influencers were taken to the district court on Wednesday and were granted bail.
“The court told us not to make such reels anymore and to delete our earlier vulgar reels,” said Mehak.
At court, a sea of lawyers had gathered to see Meharulnisha and Mehak.
“A lawyer told us that we are so fair and beautiful that anything we make will go viral”, said Mehak.
(Edited by Theres Sudeep)