UP: Mathura priest gets life term for filming minors, selling videos to foreigners

A special court in Uttar Pradesh’s Mathura district has sentenced a temple priest to life imprisonment for luring minor girls with offerings, sexually abusing them and recording videos that he later sold to people abroad over the internet.

Additional district and sessions judge (Special POCSO Act-II) Brajesh Kumar also imposed a fine of Rs 1.43 lakh on the convict and ordered that the entire amount be paid to the victims.

According to assistant prosecution counsel Rampal Singh, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered a case on 17 June 2025, acting on information received from Interpol, and arrested the priest, Shyam Bihari, from a temple in a village under the Jaint police station area.

The CBI investigation found that the accused allegedly lured young girls and minors visiting the temple with the promise of prasad, took them into a room and sexually abused them while recording videos. He subsequently sold the videos to foreign buyers through the internet, Singh said.

Interpol had alerted the Indian government after receiving information about the activities.

The CBI completed its investigation in about a month and filed a chargesheet in court on 18 August 2025.

During the trial, the prosecution presented 14 witnesses, including the victims, school principals, CBI officials, bank employees and forensic experts.

The court relied on the victims’ statements, material recovered from the accused’s mobile phone and forensic examination reports as key evidence before convicting him.

A special court in Mathura sentences temple priest Shyam Bihari to life imprisonment for sexually abusing minor girls, recording videos and selling them to people abroad. The court also imposes a Rs 1.43 lakh fine, to be paid to the victims.