Hyderabad:

Two persons were arrested for alleged voyeurism after some female students at a private engineering college in Medchal, near Hyderabad, accused the cooking staff of recording them in the hostel washrooms, police said on Sunday.

After protests were held at the college over the voyeurism issue on January 1 and 2, a case was registered against seven people, including the two arrested individuals, the principal, director, and chairman of the college.

Based on the complaint of the students, the case was registered at Medchal police station on charges of voyeurism, abetment to commit a crime, and other relevant sections of the IPC, besides the POCSO Act.

During the investigation, the police apprehended two persons, both aged 20, who were accused of peeping into the washrooms of the students.

One of them works as a cook’s helper, a police official said, adding that they were sent to judicial custody on Saturday.

It has been established that the two accused targeted the hostel girls when they used the washrooms, according to a release from the Cyberabad Police Commissionerate.

The two arrested individuals were provided accommodation near the girls’ hostel washrooms, giving them easy access and posing a serious threat to the privacy and safety of the minor victims, police said.

The girls’ hostel wardens displayed negligence when the victims disclosed the incident, intentionally avoiding escalating the matter to the police or the parents of the victims, police added.

The principal, director, and chairman pressured the hostel wardens to contain the exposure of the incident in order to protect the college’s reputation but showed no interest in reporting the matter to the relevant authorities, which emboldened and abetted the two arrested individuals to carry out the voyeurism, police said.

The case is under investigation.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Hyderabad:

After massive protests by female students of a private engineering college over alleged video recording in hostel bathrooms, police on Thursday registered a case and began investigations.

CMR Engineering College at Medchal, on the outskirts of Hyderabad, was rocked by protests on Wednesday night and this continued till 2 a.m.

Medchal police registered a case after taking a complaint from the students and picked up five mess workers on suspicion.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Srinivas Reddy said they seized 12 mobile phones of these workers.

“We have so far found no evidence that they recorded videos. We have not found any obscene videos on their phones. However, we are verifying if any videos were deleted,” he said.

The ACP said they took a complaint from the students and registered a case.

A case of negligence has also been registered against the management of the college as the rooms were given to mess workers next to the bathroom and they had access to the ventilator of the bathroom.

“We have found no evidence so far but there is room for suspicion,” the ACP said.

The police official said a girl saw the shadow of a person and brought the same to the warden’s notice but as there was no response from the warden, the students began the protest as they suspected that their videos might have been recorded.

The protestors raised slogans of “We want justice”. Leaders of student unions, including the ABVP, also joined the students in the protest which continued past midnight. ABVP leaders demanded action against the management of the college. They alleged that female students were being blackmailed. The student leaders warned that if videos recorded in bathrooms surface on social media, former minister and MLA Malla Reddy, who owns the college, will have to own responsibility.

The police official said fingerprint experts were called to collect samples from the imprints found on the glass of the ventilator. The experts will ascertain if the imprints match the fingerprints of any of the workers.

The ACP appealed to parents not to worry over rumours that 150-300 videos were recorded.

The police also questioned the management on employing male workers in women’s hostel. The management explained that as the cooking involved lifting huge vessels, they had to employ male workers but for food supply, they engaged women. The mess workers are from outside the state.

The ACP said if any evidence was found, criminal action would be taken against them and also management.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)