Students at Udupi College are suspended for filming a woman in a restroom; police deny any communal motivations, and the BJP alleges harassment

The Udupi police on Tuesday, July 25, strongly rejected any religious overtones in the case and encouraged the public not to believe in rumors after the suspension of three female Muslim students from a college in Udupi, Karnataka for allegedly filming a female Hindu student in the ladies’ restroom. Following widespread social media rumors that Muslim males had been exposed to sexually explicit films of several Hindu women as part of a bigger “Jihadi conspiracy,” the police released a statement.

In relation to the video recording event at the Udupi College, the Malpe police in Udupi have now filed two suo moto cases: one against three students and college officials for the crime, and the other against a Twitter account for spreading false information about the incident.

What took place at the college in Udupi?
On Wednesday, July 19, the worried student who was reportedly filmed alerted her companions about the event, who subsequently contacted the college administration. The three students were expelled for the following reasons: They entered the building using a cell phone, which is prohibited at the campus, and they captured the footage, the college director was cited as saying by news agency PTI. The second student was accidentally videotaped, the three students said, while they were “pranking” someone else. The director further said that they allegedly destroyed the tape in front of her.

According to a report by The Newsminute, the situation worsened when a right-wing student organization by the name of All College Student Power became involved at this point and demanded action from the college administration and police. In a letter to Udupi Superintendent of Police Hakay Akshay Machhindra, the student organization demanded that the police conduct an inquiry into the three students and threatened to hold a demonstration if the institution did not bring charges against the three ladies.

What was clarified by the Udupi police?
After certain allegations that the recordings of Hindu women were shared among Muslim males by Muslim women surfaced, the event subsequently took a sectarian turn on social media. According to several media reports citing police sources, the event caused the suspended students to worry that the issue would escalate into a significant scandal, similar to the hijab conflict that erupted in January 2022 and also occurred in Udupi.

The student organization All College Student Power, the primary group that was protesting the issue, withdrew their protests after Udupi police, refuting the allegations of communal tension, said they had not discovered any evidence that the video of a Hindu woman using the restroom had been posted online.

Hakay Akshay Machhindra, the superintendent of police in Udupi, remarked to reporters, “There is a lot of misunderstanding since many people are spreading false information on social media. I’m here to make it clear that the video was not distributed to anybody. Many have claimed that there was a concealed camera and recordings were being recorded inside the toilet. We have no knowledge of such a thing.

He said that the worried student has told college officials that she does not intend to contact the police. “The victim wrote to the institution stating that the video was quickly removed and that she knew the three Muslim pupils. She had already informed the institution that she had no intention of making a police report, according to Hakay Akshay Machhindra.

However, Udupi BJP MLA Yashpal Suvarna continued to claim that Muslim women had filmed and shared intimate films of Hindu women with “anti-social forces” even after the police news conference on July 25 that dispelled the rumors. The government is keeping its distance from the Muslim students who participated in the plot to end the lives of the Hindu students, he said on Twitter. There is no excuse for allowing this. There won’t be any peace until the offenders are punished and the victims are given justice.

NCW will investigate Udupi problem
On July 26, the National Commission for Women said that BJP leader Khushbu Sundar, a member of the commission, will be traveling to Udupi to investigate the situation. I’m traveling to Udupi to investigate the case of the females who were caught on camera by their fellow female college students in a restroom. She said in a tweet, “It is quite upsetting to watch kids engaging in such activities.

Leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) urged a thorough investigation into the situation at a news conference on Tuesday in Bengaluru. On July 27, the BJP Mahila Morcha has also called for a countrywide demonstration to demand that the three students be punished.

“While a Hindu girl was in the restroom, three Muslim females discreetly videotaped her. The video was subsequently sent to several organizations. A thorough investigation of the situation has to be ordered. The three youngsters are receiving lenient treatment from the authorities. A sizable network is responsible for this incidence, according to BJP state general secretary N Ravi Kumar on Tuesday.