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.
Police Inspector Sushant Gaur said Culpo and others in her group are accused of violating India’s Heritage Act. Culpo, from Cranston, Rhode Island, was on a 10-day visit to India.
He said they shot a commercial for footwear at the Taj Mahal on Sunday without the permission of the state-run Archaeological Survey of India. Police acted on a complaint received from the ASI on Thursday, Gaur said.
If found guilty, they can be jailed for up to two years and fined 100,000 rupees ($1,600), Guar said.
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.
Indian media said commercial activity is banned on the premises of the Taj Mahal, a World Heritage Site.
Culpo posed for photographs wearing one sandal, holding another in her hand and keeping another pair on the bench she was sitting on, Guar said.