Days after the Chandigarh University video leak scandal took the country by storm, another similar incident has come to the fore from IIT Bombay. A canteen worker of the prestigious institute has been arrested for filming a girl student while she was in the hostel washroom.
The incident reportedly took place on Sunday, September 18. According to reports, the student in question spotted a mobile phone looming outside the bathroom window. She immediately alerted her friends and the hostel council about it. The varsity dean and student affairs dean visited the premises, however owing to broken cameras, CCTV video from outside the hostel building could not be checked.
They, however, informed the Powai Police Station officials about the incident, who immediately reached the institute and interrogated five staff members who run the night canteen from 3:30 pm to 3 am. After questioning, the police arrested one of them under IPC Section 354-C (voyeurism).
Speaking on the matter, the institute said that the canteen employee, working on the night shift, climed a duct pipe and tried to “violate the personal space of women residents of a hostel”. He was caught by the hostel residents and handed over to the police.
In a statement issued soon after, the institute said, “The investigation, including cyber investigation, is being carried out by the Mumbai police. The institute, as per the initial report, is not aware of any footage being shared from the phone confiscated from the culprit.”
“The canteen has been shut down immediately and will reopen only if staffed exclusively by women. Gaps in the ducts, which may have been used by the suspects, have been closed. We are in discussions with the students to see what other additional steps we can take. IIT Bombay stands with its students and we will do everything in our capacity to ensure the safety and security of our students,” it added.
This incident has come on the heels of the MMS incident at Chandigarh University wherein a student allegedly filmed her hostel mates changing clothes and taking showers.
On September 17, a private university named Chandigarh University, located in Mohali, Punjab, saw a massive protest by students after it was revealed that a female student allegedly filmed 60+ female students in the hostel while they were bathing and sent the videos to a person in Shimla.