Marathi daily Loksatta, part of the Indian Express Group, has issued an unconditional apology after an AI-generated image resembling Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was used in a news report about a convicted fake godman.
The report, titled “10 years of rigorous imprisonment for the fake godman who lured people with the promise of raining money,” detailed the sentencing of a self-styled godman who had allegedly duped devotees by promising miraculous wealth. The AI tool used to create the accompanying photograph erroneously produced an image that showed Rahul Gandhi in handcuffs inside a courtroom. The image was inadvertently published on Loksatta Digital.
The newspaper said that as soon as the oversight was noticed, the photograph was immediately removed. In its statement, the newspaper said it had “no intention of hurting anyone’s sentiments” and expressed sincere regret for the error. “Loksatta Digital expresses its sincere regret/apology for this incident,” the apology read.
The paper clarified that the image was generated automatically and the mistake occurred during the illustration process for the digital edition. “We wish to clarify that we had no intention of hurting anyone’s sentiments, and Loksatta Digital expresses its sincere apologies for this incident,” the statement said.
The newspaper has replaced the image with a different image showing two hands behind bars, with no visible face.
The report published on 18th May was regarding the conviction of one Mahadevnath Baba alias Gyandev Tukaram Kamble, who has been sentenced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment. Kamble has been convicted on charges of cheating a person of ₹5.5 lakh by promising to perform black magic and sexually assaulting a minor girl.
The fake baba had claimed to have diving powers and promised to solve the problems of people. He had claimed that the victim, a minor girl, remained ill for a long time because there was a curse on her, and he offered to perform rituals to remove the curse. He took ₹5.5 lakh from the family, claiming that he would create a rain of money for them. He kept visiting the family’s house, and once, when the girl was alone in 2020, he molested her. The next month, he visited the house again and raped her twice, threatening her with an air gun.
He also blackmailed the victim by misusing a photo taken with her for worship. After the victim revealed the incidents to her family, they filed a complaint, and a case was registered. After the police concluded the investigation, the court found him guilty and sentenced him to 10 years in jail.
When Loksatta reported the verdict, they decided to use an AI-generated image. But somehow, the AI tool decided to use an image of Rahul Gandhi, which was allegedly not spotted by the editors, and the photo went online with the report.
