Iranian travel vlogger accuses in-laws ofharassment in UP, seeks to return home

Bareilly: A 25-year-old Iranian travel vlogger who had married a Moradabad-based social media influencer in 2024 filed a police complaint accusing her mother-in-law and sister-in-law of regular harassment and blackmail.In her complaint, the woman alleged that her private videos with her husband were secretly recorded by her in-laws, who later threatened to publicise them online if she refused to give them money and gifts. She said she now feels unsafe in India and wants to return to Iran. "We've taken cognisance of the matter. It is a family dispute and we're probing the case," Moradabad (city) SP Kumar Ranvijay Singh said on Saturday.A police officer added that the complainant reached the women's police station with her husband on Thursday and narrated her ordeal. She said her mother-in-law even posted obscene clips on her phone status to defame her socially. Her husband's old phone, containing personal photos and videos, was hidden by his mother, she alleged.Refuting the allegations, the woman's mother-in-law said, "They (both husband and wife) beat me, abused me, locked me in a room and now want to sell the house and flee to Iran."The couple met through Instagram in 2022, and their friendship later turned into a more serious relationship. Earlier, the woman also filed a complaint alleging "social harassment" on the internet. She had then told the cops that a few people were targeting her with abuse as she married a man from a different faith.