Suvarna sought an independent probe of the incident as the father of one of the accused students was part of the banned PFI.
BJP legislators from coastal districts, on Friday, met Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot on Friday for SIT probe into Udupi washroom filming incident
Udupi MLA Yashpal Suvarna expressed his discontent over the Karnataka government transferring the college washroom video recording case investigation to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
Earlier, the state government had turned down the BJP’s demand for a probe by an independent central agency. BJP’s Suvarna said the CID, too, was under the ruling Congress.
“We asked for an SIT (Special Investigation Team) that will have some responsibility while investigating the case. Moreover, the CID would take ages to file a charge sheet while the SIT could do it quicker, and we could even go on appeal if the probe is not up to our satisfaction,” he told South First.
Raising doubts about the state government’s decision to hand over the case to the CID, the BJP leader said the move has created confusion as an active investigation was already being carried out by the Udupi district police.
On 4 August, a group of eight MLAs from the communally volatile coastal districts met Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot and pressed for transferring the case to a SIT. They said they had lost trust in the district police.
Chief minister Siddaramaiah had recently ordered a DySP-ranked officer to investigate the case.
Addressing reporters in Udupi, Suvarna said the government had recently changed the investigating officer and intensified the probe after widespread public outcry against the initial probe.
Statements from the victim student and the accused have already been recorded and several pieces of evidence collected. During the course of the probe, it has been revealed that the father of one of the accused belonged to the banned Popular Front of India (PFI), he claimed.
However, the decision to transfer the case to the CID before the completion of the investigation by the district police has now caused confusion, Suvarna said.
He also raised suspicion that by transferring the case to the CID, the government was trying to protect the accused and hush up the case. The transfer of the case from the district police to the CID has raised questions and uncertainty about the course of the probe among the public, the MLA said.
The Karnataka government, on Monday, 7 August, handed over the case of the three women students allegedly filming a fellow student inside a college washroom to the CID.
“There is an allegation that a video was filmed in the toilet of a private college in Udupi, and as this is a sensitive case, it has been handed over to the CID for further investigation,” the chief minister said on Monday.
The 18 July incident took a political turn with a series of protests in Udupi demanding action against the three students of the Netra Jyothi College.
Certain circles gave a communal colour to the incident since the victim and the accused belong to different religious communities.
National Women’s Commission member and actor Khushbu Sundar visited Udupi on 26 July to conduct inquiries and ascertain the truth behind the incident.
As the victim had not filed a formal complaint, the police registered a suo motu case on 26 July at Malpe police station in Udupi.
The BJP held statewide protests on the issue demanding the arrest of the three women and an SIT investigation.
Udupi Superintendent of Police Hakay Akshay Machhindra, too, confirmed that the case has been handed over to the CID. He declined to elaborate on the reason behind handing over the case to the CID.
According to the Netra Jyothi College director Rashmi Krishna Prasad, the incident took place on 18 July and after learning about it, the three students were suspended from the college the next day.
The students brought a phone in the college — in violation of the rules — and allegedly filmed the other student in the toilet, she said.
The trio later told the victim that they filmed her by mistake whereas their target was someone else and then deleted the video, Prasad said.
The incident came to light when the victim told her friends, who in turn, alerted the college management.
However, some students later alleged that the filming in washroom had been going on for the past six months and that the accused had allegedly shared these videos with some boys to blackmail them. However, police said they had found no such videos.
On 27 July, Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara called it “a small incident blown out of proportion”.
“That is a small incident. Reports say it happened amongst friends. Should it be blown out of proportion and given a political colour,” Parameshwara asked.
“If a criminal activity has taken place beyond it and if a complaint has been given, then it will come under the jurisdiction of the police department. However, there is neither complaint nor anything else,” he added.
The ABVP staged massive protests in the town for several days seeking action against the accused.
May 10, 2024
May 10, 2024
May 10, 2024
May 09, 2024
May 09, 2024
May 09, 2024
