On 28th July 2023, a BJP worker named Shakuntala was arrested in Tumakuru of Karnataka for questioning chief minister Siddaramaiah on the Udupi college restroom filming incident. Shakuntala was arrested for her tweet in response to a tweet by Karnataka Congress which called the act of Muslim girls in Udupi’s medical college making videos of Hindu girls in toilets a child act. She was later released on bail at the police station.
The Karnataka Congress posted, “When will BJP which has created fake news of “video shooting of female students” in Udupi college break the silence about the genuine news of ABVP president filming the obscene video of Hindu girl students in Tirthahalli? BJP Karnataka, which was going to use the children’s fight for political purposes, has been disappointed by our alert police investigating without delay and uncovering the truth.”
ಮುಸ್ಲಿಂ ಯುವತಿಯರು ಟಾಯ್ಲೆಟ್ ನಲ್ಲಿ ಕ್ಯಾಮೆರಾ ಇಟ್ಟು ಹಿಂದೂ ಹೆಣ್ಣುಮಕ್ಕಳ ವಿಡಿಯೋ ಮಾಡಿದ್ದು ಕಾಂಗ್ರೆಸ್ನವರ ಪ್ರಕಾರ ಮಕ್ಕಳಾಟವಂತೆ..@siddaramaiah ನವರ ಸೊಸೆ or ಹೆಂಡ್ತಿ ಅವ್ರ ವಿಡಿಯೋವನ್ನು ಇದೆ ತರ ಮಾಡಿದ್ರೆ
— ಶಕುಂತಲ🪷Shakunthala (@ShakunthalaHS) July 25, 2023
ಅದನ್ನು ಮಕ್ಕಳಾಟ ಅಂತ ಒಪ್ಕೋತೀರಾ? pic.twitter.com/jP0QTKvL5R
Replying to this, Shakuntala tweeted, “According to the Congress, Muslim girls putting cameras in the toilet and making videos of Hindu girls is a childish act. Siddaramaiah, if your daughter-in-law or wife makes a video like this, do you call it child’s play?” She also shared a screenshot of the Karnataka Congress tweet.
Following her tweet, a complaint was lodged at the High Grounds police station in Bengaluru by Hanumantharaya, a Congress worker. Accordingly, the police registered an FIR against Shakuntala, a native of Tumakuru. Based on the case, the High Grounds police arrested Shakuntala. At the police station, she was released on bail.
At the time of arrest, Shakuntala was participating in a protest in front of the deputy commissioner’s office in the city by the BJP District Mahila Morcha in Tumakuru, condemning the Congress government’s attempts to cover up the incident in which three Muslim girls had made a secret filming of Hindu girls. The protesters demanded a high-level probe into the case.
Shakuntala asked, “Are the Congress and its followers saying that Muslim girls making nude videos of Hindu girls is a joke and a child’s play and that the complaint written by the victim girls is also fake?”
Protests by BJP
On Friday, July 27, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members in the state of Karnataka launched a massive protest against the three women students of a private paramedical college in Udupi for filming fellow students inside a washroom using mobile phones. The BJP members and workers held placards and posters and raised slogans against the Congress government in the state as they protested on the streets of Udupi.
While the BJP Mahila Morcha and other members took the protests to the Udupi streets, the workers of BJP Yuva Morcha staged a protest outside Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara’s residence, demanding action against the accused Muslim women in the case.
The Udupi restroom filming case
On July 18, the three Muslim students recorded a video of their classmate in the Netra Jyoti College, Udupi when she was in the washroom. The incident came to light when the victim Hindu student, told her friends about the incident, who then informed the college management.
Reportedly, the Udupi district police filed FIR in the case on July 26 against the Muslim students who clandestinely recorded private video of Hindu students in the washroom and uploaded it on social media. The college management had earlier taken cognizance of the event and had conducted an inquiry into the matter. The management had also concluded that the video had been deleted, closing the case.
However, due to public outrage, a suo moto case had been registered at the Malpe Police Station in the Udupi district. A case has been filed against three Muslim students named Alimatul Shaifa, Shabanaz, and Alia, who were responsible for creating the video, as well as against the management board of Netrajyoti College. They have been charged with evidence destruction. The police have registered multiple cases under sections 509, 204, 175, and 34 of the Indian Penal Code.
