3 Ministers Resign After Porn Scandal in Indian State Assembly Shocks Country

Three government ministers in India resigned on Wednesday after they were caught watching pornography on a cell phone during a session of the state assembly of Karnataka.

Footage from a local television station that was filming the assembly depicted Laxman Savadi, the minister for cooperation, showing the explicit footage to his colleagues C. C. Patil and Krishna Palemar, who owned the phone.

The irony of Patil's position as minister for women -- and that just last week he advocated for a dress code -- did not escape Indian newspapers.

All three politicians are members of the conservative Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and stated that their resignations were to save the party from further embarrassment.

All three deny that they were watching pornographic videos. The AP reported that Savadi said he was watching a video clip of a rave party to prepare for an assembly discussion.

Patil said,

"Mr. Lakshman Savadi and Krishna Palemar, all three together, we are going to give our resignation to honourable Chief Minister of Karnataka state and we'll request honourable Speaker of the House to inquire the...whatever the happenings in yesterday's assembly hall. All three of us are requesting the speaker to conduct an inquiry. I hope we'll come out with a clean chit."

The situation, dubbed "porn-gate" by Indian media outlets, has become a huge political scandal. Hundreds of people in Bangalore staged protests outside the ministers' homes and politicians are calling for the three ministers to be permanently banned from government office.

India's attitude toward sex is complicated and at times inconsistent. In the country that once deified and intellectualized sexuality, society is now extremely conservative. Sex and even kissing was famously left out of Bollywood films for years, and films showing homosexual relationships still cause mass controversy.