Chandigarh: Amritpal Singh Mehron, wanted in the murder case of Instagram influencer Kanchan Kumari alias Kamal Kaur Bhabhi, has said he will not allow “obscenity and vulgarity” in Punjab. He also issued threats to another influencer to stop promoting nudity or “god knows what will happen to her”.
Issuing a video message from his verified Instagram account, Mehron, a Nihang Sikh, asked social media influencers from Punjab to delete “vulgar content” from their accounts. “Do it by tonight or you will find me nearby.”
Mehron claimed he and his associates had earlier “warned” Kanchan Kumari against spreading “obscenity” through her posts, but she did not pay heed and was “punished for her sins”.
Kanchan Kumari or Kamal Kaur Bhabhi (30), a resident of Ludhiana, was found dead in her car Wednesday in the parking of the Adesh Hospital in Bathinda. Originally from Uttar Pradesh, she lived with her mother and brother in Ludhiana and donned a Sikh identity on her Instagram handle. She had almost 4 lakh followers on Instagram.
Addressing a press conference Friday, Bathinda Senior Superintendent of Police Amneet Kondal said while Mehron was wanted in the murder case, his two associates—Jaspreet Singh (31), a resident of village Mehron in Moga, and Nimratjit Singh (21), a resident of Harike in Tarn Taran—have been arrested.
Kondal said Mehron is the conspirator in the murder case and police teams are looking for him. “The murder was a result of this group indulging in moral policing.”
“The two arrested accused said Kanchan Kumari was posting vulgar videos which were having a bad influence on the younger generation and Amritpal Mehron had warned her several times but she did not bother. They said they wanted to teach her a lesson and as a result hatched the conspiracy,” said the SSP.
Threat to another influencer
In his video, Mehron issued threat to another influencer, Deepika Luthra. He said several warnings have been issued to her too and she “came begging forgiveness” from him some months ago. “She promised to us she would not post obscene videos anymore but she is still doing it. This is my last warning to her.”
Talking to mediapersons Friday, Luthra said she was being unnecessarily targeted. “I was called to Moga by these persons and made to apologise. They also deleted the videos they had objection to from my phone. Since then, I have not posted any other video like that,” she said, adding she feared for her and her family’s life.
On the arrest of his aides, Mehron said they were like his “brothers”. “They are my right and left arms. They don’t care for the consequences and neither do I. You can hang me, send me to jail for life…but as long as I am alive I will not allow obscenity and vulgarity to be spread in Punjab. It will be a small price to pay to save the honour of my state.
“Just because some people want to earn money from Instagram and YouTube does not mean it’s a free for all…it’s not necessary that dead bodies would always be found or that there is only one parking spot in Bathinda,” he said.
Also Read: Young Kashmiri Pandit creators haven’t forgotten haak and Herath. They won’t let you either
Mehron already faces two cases
Giving details of the Kanchan Kumari’s murder case, the SSP said the matter came to light Wednesday when police received information about the body of a woman lying in a car parked outside the Aadesh Hospital in Bathinda cantonment area.
“Our teams reached the spot along with a forensic team. The dead body could not be identified immediately and was shifted to the civil hospital. The next day Kanchan Kumari’s mother Girija Kumari identified the body. She told us that Kanchan had gone to Bathinda Monday evening on the invitation of a Sikh gentleman who had come to meet them at home Sunday. He had identified himself as Amritpal Singh. He requested Kanchan to participate in a promotional event of a car showroom in Bathinda to which she agreed,” said Kondal.
The SSP added that the two accused, Jaspreet and Nimratjit, came to Ludhiana in their own vehicle Monday afternoon, and escorted Kanchan Kumari who was to drive her own car till Bathinda. “In Bathinda, they spent several hours in a garage getting Kanchan Kumari’s car serviced, and even took her to eat something when she said she was hungry. After darkness fell, they took her car to an empty area in Bhucho and killed her in her own car by strangulation using a long piece of cloth,” said the SSP.
“They shifted her body to the rear seat of the car and brought it to Bathinda and parked it in the hospital’s parking lot so it does not raise any immediate alarm. We arrested the two at 1 this morning and are looking for the main conspirator Amritpal Singh Mehron. He has been identified by Kanchan’s mother as the person who came to invite Kanchan at her house for the promotional event,” said the SSP.
The police added that Mehron was already facing two cases. “In a case registered in 2021 at Dhanola, he and Nimratjit Singh threatened a producer whom they believed was creating vulgar content. In another case registered in Amritsar, he was accused of vandalising statues on the Heritage Street near the Golden Temple in 2020,” SSP Kondal said.
‘She got punishment for her sins’
In his Friday video, Mehron attached several clips from the ‘Kamal Kaur Bhabhi’ social media account and said anyone who thinks he was wrong should try and watch those clips with their families.
“A woman from Uttar Pradesh or Bihar uses Kaur with her name and does all this? Is this what we want to show to our children, our sons and daughters? Every youngster has a mobile now and this is the content we are creating for them? And it is not that we did not try to explain it to her calmly. We did but she did not understand.
“This was going on for four-five years. She even told our men that her father had cancer and she needed money for that. My men collected Rs 1.5 lakh and gave it to her but she did not stop making vulgar videos for money… She got the punishment for her sins,” said Mehron.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
Also Read: A new breed of fashion influencers is slaying Bollywood star egos and stylist cliques
This is extreme and must be condemned.
However, vulgarity and nudity is a serious issue too. Content creators and influencers go to any lengths to get famous and make money. They are forever willing to stoop to any level just to earn fame and money. The absolutely vulgar content being generated through this is watched by millions of teenagers and young adults. This is having a deleterious impact on the young and impressionable minds of the youth.
The state and central governments must come up with laws to regulate such obscenity on social media platforms.