A video is going viral where a Dutch YouTuber named Pedro Mota was allegedly harassed by a local shopkeeper
Bengaluru police have acknowledged a video, which shows YouTuber Pedro Mota frantically running as he was being asked to leave by a shopkeeper, who was later identified as Navab Hayath Sharif
Pedro Mota was shooting a video in Bengaluru's Chor Bazar when he entered a shop while saying, 'Namaskar', a common form of greeting. Soon after the accused Navab allegedly grabbed his arm and asked, "Yeh kya hai (What is this?).” The YouTuber said, "Sir, please let go of my hand", and then he can be seen running away while everything gets recorded on the video
IPS B Dayananda, Commissioner of Police, Bengaluru City, responded to the viral tweet saying, "It's an old video which has come into circulation now. The person harassing in the video has been identified and traced and action taken. No scope for such highhandedness in Naamma Bengaluru against anybody."
The accused Navab Hayath Sharif was arrested on Monday after a case was registered under Karnataka Police Act Section 92
The viral video was posted by Pedro himself on his YouTuber channel 'Madly Roving'. The video has been titled as 'Attacked at the thieves market in India'. It has amassed around 433K views
Pedro wrote in the description, "Foreigner travelling in India experiences the thieves market in Bangalore, also known as the Sunday market or chor bazaar. But exploring the area started out on the wrong foot as an angry man attacked me by grabbing and twisting my hand and arm, lunging after me as I tried to escape. After I had some street food, met great local Indian people and haggled for a new buttoned shirt.”
Vlogger Pedro Mota has now edited his pinned comment saying, "I recorded the video of this incident in March 2023 and uploaded it yesterday."
Previously, several other instances of harassment cases with YouTubers have come to light. Some have asked for some laws around the shooting of Instagram reels and YouTube videos by influencers in the public space