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Chandigarh: Accused girl leaked only her video with boyfriend, say cops
The Punjab police said they have arrested the girl, a first year MBA student, and a team has been sent to Shimla to arrest the boy
After a massive protest over the alleged leaked videos of Chandigarh University girl students, the Punjab police in its initial investigation have said that the accused girl shared only her personal video with her boyfriend and no objectionable video of other students has been found.
The police have arrested the girl, a first year MBA student, and a team has been sent to Shimla to arrest the boy.
The matter came to light on Saturday late evening, when a few girls in the hostel saw the accused girl shooting a video while she was in the washroom.
At around 2.30am on Sunday, the students of the University held a massive protest on the campus alleging that objectionable video of a few girls in the hostel was leaked.
The police were forced to use mild lathi charge and even stone pelting was done by the protestors. There were reports that a few girls also tried to die by suicide after the report of the leaked video, but the police outrightly rejected any attempt to suicide and said, a couple of girls fainted and were taken to a local civil hospital, from where they were discharged after a couple of hours.
Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Sunday ordered a probe into the matter following the protests on the campus located on the Ludhiana-Chandigarh road.
Senior police and civil administration officers including deputy commissioner of Mohali, Amit Talwar, ADGP, administration, Punjab, Gurpreet Kaur Deo, DIG, Ropar range, Gurpreet Singh Bhullar and SSP Mohali, Vivek Sheel Soni rushed to the campus.
“We have confiscated the mobile phone of the girl and handed it over for forensic investigation,” said ADGP Gurpreet Deo.
“It has been found during a preliminary investigation that a woman student, who had been apprehended, had shared her own video with her boyfriend, who is stated to be from Shimla in Arunachal Pradesh. An FIR under IPC section 354-C (voyeurism) and the IT Act has been registered and the woman student has been apprehended. A team has already been sent to Shimla to detain the boy. Also, the video, which she shared was not uploaded on any site but went to three people and of that, we have got the video deleted from two people and will get deleted from the third person also,” she said.
Most of the girls, who panicked, had joined the University courses just 20 days back and there are 4,000 girls in the said hostel, she added.
“There are rumors that 7 girls have committed suicide whereas the fact is that no girl has attempted any such step. No girl has been admitted to the hospital in the incident,” Chandigarh University pro-chancellor R.S.Bawa said in a statement issued.
“There is another rumour which is circulating through media that 60 objectionable MMS have been found of different students. This is totally false and baseless. During the preliminary investigation conducted by the University there has been no videos found of any student which are objectionable except a personal video shot by a girl which was shared by herself to her boyfriend,” he added.
The National Commission for Women (NCW) on Sunday took cognizance of the incident. NCW chairperson Rekha Sharma wrote to the director general of police (DGP), Punjab, to immediately file a first information report (FIR) against the culprits amid a huge uproar over the issue.
“Sad to hear about the unfortunate incident at Chandigarh University...our daughters are our honour...a high-level inquiry has been ordered into the incident...severe action will be taken against whoever is found guilty,” said Mann in a tweet in Punjabi.
“I am in touch with the administration,” he said while appealing to people not to believe rumours. Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal said those involved in the incident will get strict punishment.
Punjab minister for school education Harjot Singh Bains asked the students of the university to stay calm and assured them that the guilty will not be spared.
“It is a sensitive matter and concerns the dignity of our sisters and daughters. We all, including the media, should be very cautious. It is also a test of ours as a society,” Bains said in a tweet.
Punjab State Women Commission chairperson Manisha Gulati also reached the university campus to take stock of the situation.
“I understand the parents’ concern and I want to assure them that the incident is being investigated by the police,” she said.
“It is a matter of deep investigation why the woman, who made the video, did so. Whether or not she shot videos of other girls is a matter of investigation,” Gulati said.
Meanwhile, the parents rushed to the hostel to take their wards back home soon after the news of the alleged leaked video was spread . “My daughter is very scared and she called me today and we are taking her home,” said one of the parents.
The university authorities have decided to close the university for two days and only non-academic staff will report to their respective departments.
