Indian police have filed a case against Miss Universe, American Olivia Culpo, for an unauthorized fashion shoot at the Taj Mahal, India's white-marble monument to love, a police officer said Thursday, CBS News reported.
Culpo, a 21-year-old American from Rhode Island, visited the Islamic mausoleum on Sunday during a 10-day tour of India. During her time at the World Heritage site, she posed for cameras and shot a commercial for footwear at the Taj Mahal on Sunday without the permission of the state-run Archaeological Survey of India.
According to CBS News, Culpo also sat on the Diana Seat, a marble ledge named after the late British princess who visited in 1992. Police Inspector Sushant Gaur said Culpo and others in her group are accused of violating India's Heritage Act. Indian media said commercial activity is banned on the premises of the Taj Mahal, a World Heritage Site.
"The sandals from a bag she carried were taken and placed on the Diana Seat for shooting pictures, which is not permitted by the ASI (Archaeological Survey of India). It also amounts to disrespect and insult," he told the paper.
Guar said Culpo and the others implicated could be jailed for up to two years and fined $1,600 if found guilty. Indian police file a case as a first step in investigating a complaint. They formally charge a suspect in court at the end of the investigation. Culpo posed for photographs wearing one sandal, holding another in her hand and keeping another pair on the bench she was sitting on the chair, Guar said.
"The Miss Universe Organization would like to extend its deepest apologies to the people of India for the incident involving the reigning Miss Universe," said a statement sent to AFP late Thursday.
Indian-born fashion designer Sanjana Jon, who accompanied Miss Universe to the site, has also been booked for an alleged breach of the ancient monuments.
The Taj Mahal, visited by millions of tourists each year, was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan as a tomb for his beloved empress, Mumtaz Mahal, who died during childbirth in 1631. Visitors are asked to remove shoes while climbing the plinth and entering the Taj, but footwear is allowed in the surrounding garden area where Culpo posed, wearing a long peach-colored off-the-shoulder dress.
