The Udupi district police have at last lodged a First Information Report (FIR) against the Muslim students who clandestinely recorded private video of Hindu students in the washroom of the Netra Jyoti college in Udupi, a report published by Asianet News said.
As per reports, the police have filed two cases in the matter, one case is linked to three female students and college administration for the deletion of a video of a student filmed in the toilet. The second case pertains to uploading of a hidden camera video on YouTube channels.
Udupi Video Incident | Udupi Police has filed two cases. One case linked to three female students and college administration regarding deletion of a video of a student filmed in the toilet. Second case linked to uploading of a hidden camera video on YouTube channels. #Karnataka pic.twitter.com/i9JWGmNOHO
— ANI (@ANI) July 26, 2023
Allegations arose that topless videos of Hindu girls were being recorded in the women’s washroom of Netrajyoti College in Udupi and subsequently shared with Muslim groups. The college management conducted an inquiry into the matter and concluded that the video had been deleted, closing the case. However, due to public outrage, a suo moto case has 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 are charged with evidence destruction. The police have registered multiple cases under sections 509, 204, 175, and 34. The decision to register the case came amidst significant opposition from BJP leaders, various Hindu organizations, and women across the state. The police will now commence their investigation into the matter.
Besides, in response to the state government’s lack of seriousness in handling the case of the video shooting in the Udupi College toilet, the National Commission for Women has taken the initiative to investigate the matter. The Commission will dispatch a team to Udupi to conduct a thorough inquiry into the incident at the private college. Khushbu Sundar, the South India member of the National Commission for Women, will lead the investigation during her visit to Udupi. This decision was revealed by former member Shyamala Kunder.
Activist Rashmi Samant draws attention to Udupi restroom secret video, Zubair and leftwing media portals downplay the crime
Earlier this week, Hindu rights activist Rashmi Samant took to Twitter to question the silence around the Udupi toilet secret video incident, alleging that a concerted attempt is underway to suppress the case. Furthermore, she added that many of the girls featured in the video were depressed and disturbed to the extent they were contemplating self-harm or suicide. “Yet, this issue is not being condemned with the severity it deserves,” she wrote.
Drawing a parallel to the Ajmer mass rape incident from 1992, she wrote, “Let me remind you of what happened in Ajmer in the year 1992 where hundreds of girls were raped with the blackmail of releasing nude photos that were illegally solicited. I cannot bear to think that Udupi could have turned to another Ajmer.”
Activist Rashmi Samant faces police action for tweeting about Udupi incident
On 24th July, Udupi police launched a campaign to locate Hindu human rights activist Rashmi Samant after she raised the voice of Hindu female victims whose videos were allegedly recorded by girls of the Muslim community in washrooms of a private institution.
Advocate Adhitya Srinivasan, who represents Samant, shared the detailed ordeal faced by Rashmi Samant’s family. He said at 8 PM, a group of policemen visited Rashmi’s residence when she was not at home. The police questioned her parents. They were repeatedly asked about Rashmi’s whereabouts.
Police claimed there was no communal angle
A report published by The News Minute quoted police saying there was no communal angle in the case. The same was narrated by India Today during a panel discussion in which Rashmi Samant was also present. Both TNM and India Today said the police categorically denied any communal angle in the case.
TNM quoted ASP of Udupi Siddalingappa, saying, “We looked through the phone and didn’t find any such video. We thoroughly investigated the matter, and there is no evidence that the video was shared. It was a one-off incident in the college and had no communal angle to it. The purported victim doesn’t want to file a police complaint.”
The whitewashing of criminal intent
However, despite being categorically reported that the perpetrators and victims belonged to two separate communities, leftwing propaganda portal Alt News and its co-founder Mohammed Zubair rushed to accuse Rashmi and others who talked about the incident of spreading misinformation and giving the incident a communal angle.
Mohammed Zubair, famous for whitewashing crimes against Hindus, launched a vicious attack against female right-wingers and activists, including Shafali Vaidya and Rashmi Samant, for raising their voices against the heinous incident. When Zubair was called out, he played the victim card and said when he exposes fake news; people accuse him of dog whistling.
In fact, Zubair relied heavily on The News Minute report that mentioned in the first paragraph itself that three Muslim girls were suspended for allegedly secretly recording videos of Hindu girls in the washrooms. TNM called it an apparent case of “bullying” but did not say it was a rumour that Muslim girls recorded a video of a Hindu girl. Here is an archived link to the TNM report. Subsequently, several leftwing social media users and their media organisations began downplaying the crime by three Muslim students, describing it as a ‘prank’.
