Karnataka BJP demands detailed probe into Udupi video incident
The BJP Mahila Morcha has also called for a statewide protest on July 27 demanding action against the three students
Days after three women students of a private paramedical college in Udupi were suspended for allegedly filming a fellow student using a mobile phone inside a washroom, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders on Tuesday held a press conference in Bengaluru and demanded a detailed probe into the matter. The BJP Mahila Morcha has also called for a statewide protest on July 27 demanding action against the three students.
“Three Muslim girls recorded a Hindu girl secretly when she was in the washroom. They then sent the video to several groups. A detailed probe must be ordered into the incident. The government is showing soft-corner on the three students. There is a big network behind this incident,” BJP state general secretary N Ravi Kumar said on Tuesday.
On July 19, three Muslim students were suspended by a private paramedical college for recording a video of their classmate when she was in the washroom. The incident came to light when the Hindu student told her friends, who informed the college management. The college management in turn informed the police about the incident and handed over the phone to the police.
The incident took a communal turn with the right-wing groups claiming that the suspended students, who were Muslims, used hidden cameras to shoot private videos of Hindu girls, in order to circulate them among Muslim men as part of “Jihadi conspiracy”. The Udupi police has however strongly denied these claims.
BJP leader and Udupi MLA Yashpal Suvarna said that legal action needs to be taken against the offenders. “I was in the assembly session when the incident occurred. Suitable legal action needs to be initiated against the erring girl students,” Suvarna told reporters on Tuesday.
“It is not right to keep cameras in the washroom. This may be a blackmailing tactic. I will urge for suitable action against the three offenders. I will bring this to the notice of the chief minister and home minister...The motive of the Muslim girl students is causing suspicion. I doubt the work of Jihadi organizations behind this act,” he alleged.
“There’s a lot of confusion as many people are sharing misinformation on social media. I am here to clarify that the video was not shared with anyone. Many have said that there was a hidden camera inside the restroom and videos were being shot. No such thing has come to our attention,” Udupi superintendent of police (SP) Akshay Machhindra told reporters.
The SP also said that the victim has decided not to file a police complaint as all the three students are her classmates. “The victim has written to the college that she was acquainted with the three Muslim students and that the video was deleted immediately. She had told the college that she doesn’t want to file a police complaint.”
The SP also requested the public not to share any unverified news in connection with the incident on any of the social media platforms.
