Three individuals have been arrested for circulating fake bikini videos and photos of actress Rukmini Vasanth, known for her role in the film Kantara: Chapter 2. The accused admitted to the police that they did it for sadistic pleasure. They have been identified as Ravikumar from Bagalkot, Chandrakanth from Thirthahalli, and Ranjith Kumar from Bengaluru.
Police have seized three high-end mobile phones allegedly used to create and circulate the deepfake photographs and videos. The accused, all from well-educated backgrounds, are said to have committed the act to derive sadistic pleasure. Ravikumar, a 25-year-old with a B.Sc. in Nursing, had a monetized YouTube channel where he uploaded deepfake videos to attract views and earn money.
The second accused, 25-year-old Ranjith Kumar, is a software professional earning an annual salary package of around Rs 20 lakh. Possessing strong technical skills, he confessed to creating deepfake videos of actresses for amusement and sadistic pleasure. Chandrakanth, the third accused aged 33, is a Chartered Accountant (CA) employed with a reputed company and drawing a lucrative salary package. He also confessed to uploading obscene videos of actresses for sadistic pleasure.
Police investigations revealed that the accused used artificial intelligence tools to manipulate photographs and superimpose the actress’s image onto other pictures to create the fake content. The accused have confessed to the crime and have been remanded to judicial custody for further investigation.
