Chandigarh video row | The accused girl, in the centre of row over leaked obscene videos in Chandigarh University, had made a video of another girl including herself, her lawyer informed reporters on Monday. Sandeep Sharma, the counsel for the accused, said there were two videos – one of the woman accused and the other of some other girl. The university had claimed a day ago that no videos of any other girls were found on the girl’s phone.
When asked about allegations against the woman student that she made objectionable videos of some students, Sharma said it is a matter of investigation. Police had arrested the woman student who was accused of making the videos, but had said on Sunday that she had shared a video of only herself with her 23-year-old “boyfriend”, who was arrested from Himachal Pradesh on Sunday.
Protests rocked the university campus in Punjab’s Mohali since Saturday night over allegations levelled by students that a hosteller had recorded several objectionable videos of women students in the common washroom. Some students even claimed that the videos were leaked. The university authorities, however, dismissed these allegations as “false and baseless”.
3 sent to police remand
A court on Monday sent the three accused arrested in the Chandigarh University video case to police remand for a week. Police produced the three accused in the Kharar court in Punjab’s Mohali and sought their custody for 10 days.
A 31-year-old man too was held from the hill state on Sunday evening in connection with this case. The duo was then handed over to the Punjab Police. Police also seized the phones of the three accused, who are stated to be friends.
The duo was then handed over to the Punjab Police. Police also seized the phones of the three accused, who are stated to be friends. The Punjab Police on Monday formed a three-member all-women special investigation team to probe the matter. An FIR under Section 354-C (voyeurism) of the Indian Penal Code and Information Technology Act has been registered in the matter and further probe is on, the police said.
Holidays declared, wardens sacked
The university announced “non-teaching days” till September 24, following which several students returned to their homes. Some parents of students also took back their wards from the campus. It also suspended two wardens for negligence and declared. Further, a joint committee comprising students and senior functionaries to address certain issues, such as hostel timings, has been formed by the private varsity.
This comes following a demand from the students for more privacy in the washroom area and relaxation in hostel timings.
In a tweet, the university said it stands by its students. “We are always with our students, be it their academic aspirations or their safety and well-being. We will leave no stone unturned to live it up to this commitment towards our students,” it wrote on the micro-blogging platform.”
SIT to probe issue
Punjab Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav said the SIT has been formed under the overall supervision of Additional DGP (Community Affairs Division and Women Affairs) Gurpreet Kaur Deo. The team will thoroughly probe the case and no person involved will be spared, Yadav said, adding, “Investigations are going on at full pace.”
The SIT will function under the supervision of Deputy Inspector General (Rupnagar Range) Gurpreet Singh Bhullar and Mohali Senior Superintendent of Police Vivek Sheel Soni, and it can co-opt any other member, based on functional requirements, officials said.
Why are students protesting?
Massive protests broke out on Saturday evening, which continued on Sunday as well, because a girl student from the university was caught red-handed making videos of 60 other girls, who were bathing. Another student from the university allegedly posted the videos on YouTube. As per reports, the girl student who shot the videos is from Mohali, and she sent the video to a friend living in Shimla. The videos soon went viral, and one of the girl students who were in the video also tried to commit suicide.
Tension prevailed on the campus as protesting students confronted university and police authorities, questioning why the university had on Sunday evening declared September 19 and 20 as “non-teaching days” thus declaring a holiday for students “if nothing had happened on the campus”.
Punjab Police, Chandigarh University deny suicide attempt reports
Punjab Police and Chandigarh University management officials denied reports of any suicide attempt and stood on the stance till late Sunday night. Mohali Deputy Commissioner (DC) Amit Talwar said there had been no information about suicide so far. “No information about suicide has come out. It is a rumour that has been spread. We have not been brought forward any information that a suicide has taken place,” DC Talwar said.
The arrested accused has been identified as Sunny Mehta. The youth belongs to a local village under the Rohru Sub division of Shimla district, nearly 130 km away from the northern town. The detained person has been identified as 31-year-old Rankaj Verma.
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