KANNUR: Karikkottakari police have arrested a BSW student of a private college in Iritty for allegedly morphing and circulating pictures of female students and teachers.
The key accused, Shan Muhammed, surrendered at the Karikkottakari police station on Friday. Meanwhile, the second and third accused, Sharon Rajesh and Akhil Chacko, are absconding. The case was registered based on a complaint filed by the college principal.
The incident came to light on Wednesday when two female classmates of Shan took his phone to click a picture. "Since most classmates knew each other's mobile phone passwords, the girls opened the gallery to check the image they had taken. They were shocked to find numerous nude pictures and immediately reported the matter to their class teacher before the class started," the college principal said.
According to the institution's rules, students are prohibited from using mobile phones on campus. The class teacher, noticing Shan using his phone in class, confiscated the device. With the help of classmates, she accessed the phone and was horrified to find numerous morphed images of female classmates, teachers, and even senior students.
Following this, the accused, along with faculty and the students who first found the images, were taken to the Karikkottakari police station. Initially, no students or teachers were willing to file a complaint. However, a PTA meeting held on Thursday criticised the college management for failing to take immediate action. In response, the principal filed a complaint with the police.
During questioning, Shan said he learned to morph images using an AI bot with the help of his classmate Sharon. Akhil has been booked for circulating the images.