Udupi washroom video row: FIR against 3 girls, Karnataka Home Minister terms it 'small incident'

Karnataka police on Wednesday filed an FIR against three girl students who allegedly recorded a video of their fellow female student in a college washroom in Udupi, days after the incident. The FIR against the students of the paramedical college has been registered at Malpe police station in Udupi.

The embarrassing incident also created political row as the ruling party Congress and BJP engaged in a war of words. The BJP demanded the arrest of the accused, while Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara blamed the saffron party for indulging in "petty politics" over a "small incident". Parameshwara the issue was blown out of proportion.

Extremely concerning: NCW
National Commission for Women (NCW) member Khushbu Sundar termed the filming incident "extremely concerning" and said she is heading to Udupi to look into the issue.

Police actions

The college administration has also been named in the FIR, which has been filed under IPC sections 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman), 204 (destruction of any document or electronic record), 175 (omitting to produce document or electronic record), and 34 (criminal act is done by several persons in furtherance of the common intention) as well as 66(e) of the IT Act (knowingly captures, publishes or transmits the image of a private area of any person without his or her consent), sources said. A police statement said two separate suo motu cases have been registered regarding the video recording in the washroom of the college.

A case of recording the private video of a female student and deleting it later is registered against three female students and the college administration. Police have charged them with failure to produce the details and evidence relating to the incident that could spoil the reputation of the victim.

What was the video?

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 three girl students were suspended from the college on the accusation of filming the video in the restroom of the college recently.

Political battle on the video

The issue has created a flutter in political circles, with the BJP announcing a state-wide protest on Thursday demanding the arrest of the three students involved in the filming of a girl, pointing out that the victim and the accused girls are from two different religious communities.

A day earlier, police had 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.

Former NCW member Shyamala Sunder addressing reporters on Wednesday in Udupi said the filming of a girl student in the washroom by three other girls is a serious issue. She said the video was allegedly circulated on social media after which the college administration confiscated the mobile phones of the students.

A right-wing activist, Rashmi Samant, who raised the issue on Twitter, was questioned by the police allegedly to ascertain the authenticity of the tweet. Referring to this, Sunder said that if a fake tweet was posted from her account, she herself would have filed a complaint.

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.

(With PTI inputs)

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