In a shocking incident, a 23-year-old IT professional was arrested for allegedly entering a women's toilet wearing a burqa in a mall in Kochi, Kerala, an official said on Thursday. The police said he entered the women's washroom to record videos of visitors for voyeurism on his mobile phone.
The Kochi police booked him for the offences under sections 354(C) (Voyeurism) and 419 (Impersonation) of the IPC and Section 66 E of the Information Technology Act on the same day.
Later, the B.Tech graduate was produced before a local court which remanded the accused to 14 days in judicial custody, an officer of Kalamassery police station said.
The incident occurred on Wednesday at the Lulu Mall where the accused, who works in a leading IT firm based at the Infopark here, wore a 'burqa' and entered a women's washroom and placed his mobile in there, police said.
He put his phone in a small cardboard box, put a hole in it for the camera to record visuals and stuck it to the door of the washroom, it said.
After that, the suspect came out from there and stood in front of the main door of the washroom, it said.
Noting his suspicious and furtive behaviour, the mall's security personnel informed the police who quickly reached the spot and questioned the accused, the officer said.
Questioning revealed that he had disguised himself as a woman and that he was recording the scenes in the washroom on his mobile phone, police said.
Subsequently, the burqa and the mobile phone of the accused were seized and he was taken into custody, it said.
The officer said police were investigating whether the accused has carried out such acts in the past anywhere else.
(With PTI inputs)
