What's Udupi college washroom video row? Why is BJP demanding SIT probe?

The filming of a nursing student in a bathroom purportedly by fellow students has sparked a row in Karnataka. An FIR has been registered against the three students as well as the college management. The Congress on its Twitter handle has called the incident a ‘mere prank’, but the BJP has demanded an SIT probe. Let’s examine the row: What happened? Indian Express quoted the FIR as stating that the incident allegedly occurred on 18 July between 2.30 and 3 pm. A police sub-inspector was sent to the college on 20 July after students protested. The college management has claimed that the three accused filmed the victim while she was using the toilet as part of a prank and that the video was deleted in the presence of the victim after the incident came to light. The college management has also claimed that the three girls apologised and were then suspended on Tuesday and that the victim did not wish to file a complaint. According to the FIR, the three students and college management have been booked under sections 509 (intending to insult the modesty of a woman), 175 (intentionally omitting to produce a document), 204 (destroys any document or electronic record), and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), and Section 66E (captures, publishes or transmits the image of the private area of any person) of the Information Technology Act. A police statement said two separate suo motu cases have been registered regarding the video recording in the washroom of the college. The newspaper quoted the college director as saying, “We have already taken necessary legal action and have suspended the students. Once we came to know about the incident, we handed over the mobile phones to the police. We are not at fault if the victim did not wish to register a complaint. But still, we have registered a complaint and the cops have taken it as a petition. Our motto is to give the best education and at the same time ensure safety. But such incidents could have happened in any public area. Since the students are our brand ambassadors, we will speak to them and counsel them in the days to come…”

News18 reported that the police have taken custody of the students’ phones.

“The phones have been sent to the FSL laboratory in Bengaluru for further examination. A detailed report will be filed by the Udupi police before proceeding further,” a senior police officer told News18. National Commission for Women (NCW) member Khushbu Sundar, who termed the incident “extremely concerning” visited Udupi to enquire into the matter. News18 reported that the students told the NCW three cameras were placed in the bathroom. But Sundar told Hindustan Times said such rumours were false. [caption id=“attachment_12929452” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] National Commission for Women (NCW) member Khushbu Sundar. News18[/caption] “If there are rumours of hidden cameras in the toilet, please understand there is nil. Nothing to it. Zilch. There is a rumour which is going around… This is an institution and there cannot be any hidden cameras,” she said. “We are waiting for the forensic reports to come. The college has submitted a report to the police, and the case has been taken up suo moto on the 25th. We are just three days into the investigation; the forensic reports are vital, and only after we will have clarity. As of now, we have zero evidence,” Sundar told News18. Sundar also asked the public to refrain from giving the matter any communal angle. “The NCW and the police are diligently doing their job and will conduct the investigation without acting as judges. The NCW is committed to protecting women and does not work with any communal angle in mind,” Sundar was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.

She also urged the media to not jump to any conclusions.

“This is not about breaking news. This is about students, about women… So we have to wait. We have to wait. This is not a two-minute noodle,” Sundar added. A morphed video of the incident was allegedly uploaded on a Kannada YouTube channel. An individual had allegedly posted the same on his Twitter account as well. A case for causing communal enmity and spoiling social harmony has also been registered in this regard, the statement said. The police had earlier urged the public not to believe rumours that girls of a particular community had targeted a girl from another community and shared a video of her online that they allegedly shot in the restroom. BJP demands arrest of students, SIT probe The BJP has demanded the arrest of the students as well as an SIT probe. This after some right-wing groups claimed that the incident is part of a larger conspiracy to circulate such videos, as per Hindustan Times. Deccan Herald quoted BJP district president Sudarshan Moodbidri as saying that the incident occurred on 18 July, but the FIR was only filed by the Udupi police on 26 July. Sudarshan, referring to the Congress tweet that this was a mere prank, added:

“Such casual remarks exposed the lack of seriousness.”

“If it was a fun act, why did the police threaten activist Rashmi Samant who had tweeted about the incident on social media? Was the delay in filing the case due to pressure from Congress?” Sudarshan asked. The Udupi SP earlier told PTI the police visited Rashmi Samant, a Twitter user and Udupi native, to verify the authenticity of the Twitter account through which a tweet was posted with the rumours about students of a particular community. “There are claims that the video in the mobile phone has been deleted. We don’t know whether it was circulated to other people on social media. A thorough investigation is needed to expose the unseen hands behind the girls who were forced to record the video,” Sudarashan added. According to NDTV, a BJP party worker has been arrested for derogatory posts against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Twitter and Facebook.

The accused, Shakunthala, who subtweeted a Congress tweet accusing the BJP of playing politics, asked if the party would maintain its stance if this happened to Siddaramaiah’s daughter-in-law or his wife. Shakunthala was arrested by the police after a complaint was filed at Bengaluru’s High Grounds Police Station. ‘Small incident,’ says home minister State home minister G Parameshwara has accused the BJP of playing “petty politics” over a “small incident”. Parameshwara called the filming of the video a ‘small incident’ that has been blown out of proportion. “That is a small incident. Reports say that it happened amongst the friends. Should it be blown out of proportion and given a political colour,” he asked while speaking to reporters. Hitting out at the BJP, he said they should stop blowing up these “small issues” simply for political reasons. They should keep in mind that there should be peace in the society. “Weren’t these things happening in the past? Weren’t these things happening in the past in colleges and universities? No one did politics then, why are they doing it now? There are many other works but they (BJP) never speak on them. They did not speak about drought, floods. BJP is doing petty politics. They should have other works, now it appears that they don’t have any other work,” Parameshwara said. [caption id=“attachment_12605902” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Home minister Parameshwara has accused the BJP of playing politics[/caption] Parameshwara on Thursday appeared to question the need for Sundar visiting Udupi to inquire into alleged “washroom filming case” at a paramedical college at a time when the NCW has “not gone” to Manipur, where two women were molested and paraded naked recently.

“Is this incident in Udupi of that magnitude?” he asked while talking to reporters.

“Let them come, I don’t say — who has to come, who has to see — all that. Manipur incident…I don’t know what to call it, and there the commission has not gone. Is this incident in Udupi of that magnitude?” Parameshwara said in response to a question regarding the NCW’s visit. “I don’t say — you don’t come. Why should you come — I don’t say that. I’m not the person to say that. Let them come, but you should also say what you found. Was there any video of this incident or anything?” “Police were waiting for someone to give the complaint. Naturally they did not want to take it to that level. Now suo motu they had to do it, because there was so much attraction this (issue) had created.” Parameshwara had on Wednesday dubbed the filming of a girl student in the restroom by fellow female students in a Udupi college as “a small incident blown out of proportion”. Clarifying his “a small issue” remark, he said the intention was not to neglect the case, but what he meant was that the issue should have been left to the college principal to handle, who after analysing the details would have escalated to the parents and police, rather than outsiders giving different twists to the issue. “I and you have studied in colleges and stayed in hostels, and there would have been certain incidents between friends and it would have been left there itself and not escalated. I had said this too might be of a similar nature,” he said. The issue should have been left to the college principal, who has already suspended the students Bommai slams Parameshwara Former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai slammed the Home Minister for “taking it lightly”. “If that was a small case, then why an FIR was registered and what about the ‘confessional letter’ by the accused girls? Why were those girls suspended? He (Parameshwara) should answer these questions,” Bommai told reporters here. The BJP leader alleged that the college administration tried to hush up the case. If the student had not tweeted, no one would have known about it. “How many cases will you (government) cover up? How many girls’ modesty would have been at stake with these videos? Such forces should be punished severely. Police should function independently without succumbing to any pressure. The officers who are at fault in this case should be punished,” Bommai said.

Making videos of girls in their restroom is a “heinous and condemnable act”, he said.

However, police going to the residence of the girl who brought the incident to the fore, in a manner to investigate her antecedents, shows under what compulsion they are functioning, Bommai alleged. He charged that the police were not functioning as per law and it was becoming clear that they were succumbing to the pressure of those in power. “Police should seize the phone and recover the videos. Will the college administration suspend the girls without any reason? Why did the girls give a ‘confessional letter’? Police give statements as if nothing happened in the college. The ‘confessional letter’ itself is sufficient to register a case against them,” Bommai said. “Police is going to the residence of the girl and giving a statement that she has not given any complaint. If that becomes a parameter, ‘certain forces’ will be emboldened to resort to all kinds of illegalities and violence believing that anything can be done here. Police will lose its trust among people,” Bommai said. With inputs from agencies