UDUPI: Malpe police registered an FIR on Tuesday night against three girls studying at a paramedical college in Udupi in connection with the alleged voyeurism. The institute was also booked. Police sources said that the director of Netra Jyothi Institute of Allied Health Sciences Rashmi Krishna Prasad had acknowledged that the incident had taken place. She acknowledged this while addressing reporters and gave reasonable confirmation that the girls committed a cognizable offence.
Malpe police faced widespread criticism for the manner in which they handled the case. They were forced to take up a suo motu case. The episode snowballed into a major issue after right-wing activist Rashmi Samant tweeted about the alleged police inaction on Tuesday.
Malpe PSI Sushma Bhandary filed the FIR against Shabhanaz, Alfiya and Aleema, students of Optometry Diploma at Netra Jyothi Institute of Allied Health Sciences, Kadekar, Udupi. Bhandary said she visited the institute on July 20 after learning about the protest by students against the three girls, who allegedly shot a video of a second-year diploma student in the washroom on July 18.
Cop: College confiscated phones, no plaint filed
When the victim confronted the three girls, they apologised to her and deleted the video. The institute confiscated their mobile phones but no police complaint was filed, Malpe PSI Sushma Bhandary said.
Meanwhile, the police filed another suo motu case after an edited video, claiming to be the visuals of the victim, was posted by the three students. The link to the video was shared by one Kalu Singh Chauhan on his Twitter account. The false information that spread led to unrest, the police said.
Chauhan was booked under Sections 505 (2) (false and mischievous news) and 153 (A) (promoting enmity between groups on grounds of religion, etc.) of IPC. The three girls were booked under Sections 509 (acts intended to outrage the modesty of a woman), 204 (destruction of evidence), 175 (omission to produce document/electronic record) 34 (common intention) of the IPC and Section 66 (E) (capturing, publishing
or transmitting the image of private area of any person) of the IT Act.