Udupi college row: Accused students surrender before court, get bail; BJP worker booked for tweet

Related: False videos, rumours going around, says Khushbu on Udupi row

The latest developments

Confirming to South First that the three students had been granted bail, the Malpe police said the sections under which the students had been booked were bailable offences.

The three students were booked under Sections 509 (word, gesture, or act intended to insult and/or outrage the modesty of a woman), 175 (intentionally omitting to produce a document or an electronic record to a public servant by a person legally bound to produce or deliver such material evidence), 205 (causing destruction of a document to prevent its production as evidence) read with 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

They were also booked under Section 66E (capturing, publishing, or transmitting the image of the private area or moments of any person) of the Information Technology (IT) Act.

However, the fourth accused party — the college management — did not move a bail petition for itself on Friday, Malpe police sources told South First.

The college management was made an accused party to the case as it failed to inform the police about the incident soon after it came to light on 19 July.

Only after Bajrang Dal members gathered for a protest the next day in front of the college did the college inform the cops and hand over the mobile phone on which the supposed video was recorded.

Meanwhile, in the second FIR registered in the case, against the peddling of misinformation, the Malpe police have sent the link of the video put up by the YouTube channel One India Kannada to the video platform to ascertain the IP address of the system from where it was uploaded.

The Malpe police have also written to X (formerly Twitter) with the link to the tweet of the profile handle of one Kalu Singh Chouhan, who had shared the unrelated fake video on his handle that had gone viral.

“We have not heard back from either YouTube or Twitter, and are waiting for them to go proceed with this case,” a senior police officer told South First.

Related: Karnataka cops dismiss communal angle in Udupi college incident

BJP workers protest in Udupi

Around 100-odd ABVP members took out a protest rally in Udupi on the filming incident on Thursday.

Around 11.15 am on Friday, around 1,000 BJP workers intensified their protests by gathering in front of the party office in Udupi.

They took out a march shouting slogans against the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government and its alleged appeasement politics in the state and headed towards the Office of the Superintendent of Police (SP) to hand over a memorandum to him.

They shouted slogans, calling the Congress government “anti-Hindu” and a “Jihadist-mentality” government.

Udupi MLA Yashpal Suvarna told South First: “BJP supporters and workers — around 1,000 of them from the Udupi, Kapu, Kundapura, and Byndoor constituencies — gathered in front of the BJP office in Udupi and marched towards the SP’s office to hand over our memorandum.”

The agitators were led by four MLAs — Yashpal Suvarna of Udupi, Gururaj Gantihole of Bydoor, Suresh Gurme Shetty of Kapu, and Kiran Kumar Kodgi of Kundapura.

“In our memorandum to the SP, we demanded that firstly, the cops should probe who is behind the three girls who took the video,” Suvarna told South First.

“Secondly, the investigation should be conducted in a transparent manner without interference from anyone, and the state government should ensure that,” he added. (

“Thirdly, we demand justice for the Hindu girl who was victimised. And finally, the state government and law enforcement agencies should ensure that such incidents are not repeated in the future,” Suvarna told South First.

Also read: Hyderabad, Bengaluru stand with Manipur women

BJP worker booked for tweet

Shankunthala Nataraj, the booked BJP activist

The High Grounds police in Bengaluru on Friday booked a woman BJP activist, identified as Shankunthala Nataraj, from the Tumakuru district for her derogatory tweet against the women in the family of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

The cops have booked Natraj under IPC Section 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult and/or outrage the modesty of a woman).

According to the police, Shakunthala Nataraj on 25 July tweeted that according to the Congress, the three Muslim students recording a video of a Hindu girl was a childish prank.

She then went on to ask if Siddaramaiah would have thought the same way if his daughter-in-law or wife was filmed.

ಮುಸ್ಲಿಂ ಯುವತಿಯರು ಟಾಯ್ಲೆಟ್ ನಲ್ಲಿ ಕ್ಯಾಮೆರಾ ಇಟ್ಟು ಹಿಂದೂ ಹೆಣ್ಣುಮಕ್ಕಳ ವಿಡಿಯೋ ಮಾಡಿದ್ದು ಕಾಂಗ್ರೆಸ್ನವರ ಪ್ರಕಾರ ಮಕ್ಕಳಾಟವಂತೆ..@siddaramaiah ನವರ ಸೊಸೆ or ಹೆಂಡ್ತಿ ಅವ್ರ ವಿಡಿಯೋವನ್ನು ಇದೆ ತರ ಮಾಡಿದ್ರೆ
ಅದನ್ನು ಮಕ್ಕಳಾಟ ಅಂತ ಒಪ್ಕೋತೀರಾ? pic.twitter.com/jP0QTKvL5R

— ಶಕುಂತಲ🪷Shakunthala (@ShakunthalaHS) July 25, 2023

She also tagged Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara and asked what his daughter’s opinion on the incident would be, using queerphobic language.

ನಿಮ್ಮ ಮಗ sorry ಮಗಳನ್ನ ಕೇಳಿ ಇದ್ರ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಅವ್ರ ಅಭಿಪ್ರಾಯ ಏನು ಅನ್ನೋದು ಹೇಳೋಕೆ ಆಗುತ್ತಾ @DrParameshwara ಅವರೇ..🙄 pic.twitter.com/hL5MAhuO3w

— ಶಕುಂತಲ🪷Shakunthala (@ShakunthalaHS) July 26, 2023

Based on a complaint from Hanumantharaya, the social media in-charge at the Chief Minister’s Office, the High Grounds police registered an FIR against Shakunthala Nataraj.

The police on Friday took Nataraj into custody and recorded her statement, after which she was let off on station bail.

“Since the offence was bailable, we have let her off on station bail. However, with the evidence, a charge sheet will be submitted in court,” a senior police officer told South First.