The scandal with video cameras placed in laser hair removal salons in Burgas and filming naked clients continues to grow. The number of women who recognize themselves in videos published on sites with pornographic content is constantly increasing.
On Monday, it became clear that video recordings from cameras were also made in a second hair removal salon in the seaside city - this time in the "Meden Rudnik" neighborhood. In the case, the prosecutor's office has begun an investigation into whether it is an illegal network for trading in footage shot with hidden cameras, NOVA reports.
It has already accepted that the distributed videos constitute pornographic content - a circumstance that is generally difficult to prove, but significantly increases the envisaged sanctions. If proven guilty, the punishment can reach from 3 to 6 years of imprisonment and a fine of up to 10,000 leva.
Just yesterday, about 80 women reported the prosecutor's office, the regional departments and the Burgas Regional Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the reports continue to come in today.
A 15-year-old girl and her mother are also expected to report the incident, and on Monday several 17-year-old girls did the same, which further aggravates the criminal liability of the perpetrators.
More and more clients recognize themselves in videos published not only in closed groups in the “Telegram“ application, but also on sites with pornographic content. Among those filmed are minors - including girls aged 15 and 17.
One of the victims describes it as disgusting and humiliating. “First I recognized my loved ones, friends, relatives, because quite a lot of us go and visit this salon, myself since 2020.
And when I saw a familiar face, I started looking with interest to see if I would see someone else I knew and myself accordingly. Disgusting, humiliating, you feel like a used person. The worst thing is that I know that someone else might recognize me“, she says.
The same woman is adamant that she will seek her rights through the courts: “We will 100% seek our rights, the rest of us who visit the salon again and we have sent each other away - they too. These are not one or two girls, they are not ten, twenty - these are many faces. Hundreds. There are a lot of clips on some of the sites“.
Another of the victims said that she feels defiled and humiliated: “The feeling is simply disgusting. I am defiled, humiliated in every way. I want them to get the consequences they deserve and I plan to sue them to the last“.
When asked whether the employees at the salon knew about the existence of the video cameras and whether they had any involvement in leaking the footage, she replied: “The girls themselves who perform the procedure, I don't think, knew, but the owner, on the other hand, I think certainly knew“.
The prosecutor's office has already begun to clarify the case. “The investigation will establish the specific mechanism by which the criminal activity was carried out, that is, who had access to the captured video footage - regulated or not, which of them distributed the materials and on which sites they were published“, explained Prosecutor Shteliyan Dimitrov.
According to him, after the timely reaction of the Burgas District Prosecutor's Office, actions have been taken to seek assistance from international partners, including Interpol and the FBI, in order to limit and terminate subsequent access to the already published video files.
The investigators are also entering a third laser hair removal company to check whether illegal video recording was also carried out there. It has several sites in Burgas, Yambol and Plovdiv. More information on the subject is expected to be released later today.
The investigation is ongoing, with reports of content featuring women still being received, and at least 15 more sites with content featuring men being investigated separately.