On Wednesday (20th March), the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) filed a chargesheet against three female Muslim students of Netra Jyoti College in Udupi city of Karnataka for secretly recording one of their classmates in the girl’s washroom.
The incident dates back to July last year when the accused Shabanaz, Alfiya and Alimath Ul Safa placed their mobile phones in the bathroom to videotape their classmate. Later, they deleted the video to destroy the evidence.
While the three Muslim girls are out on bail, they have been charge-sheeted under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 204 (secretly destroying electronic record), 509 (intending to insult the modesty of any woman) and Section 66 E of the Information Technology.
Will @PoliceUdupi take action against these accounts for amplifying misinformation related to Udupi?
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) July 24, 2023
C'C: @DrParameshwara @DgpKarnataka @HMOKarnataka pic.twitter.com/XY0e5f4FBB
When the matter was raised by the likes of Hindu activists Shefali Vaidya and Rashmi Samant, Alt News co-founder randomly came forward and dubbed the case as ‘misinformation.’ He launched a vicious attack against the duo for raising their voices against the heinous incident.
When Zubair was called out, he played the victim card and cried foul over accusations of dog whistling.
Will @PoliceUdupi take action against these accounts for amplifying misinformation related to Udupi?
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) July 24, 2023
C'C: @DrParameshwara @DgpKarnataka @HMOKarnataka pic.twitter.com/XY0e5f4FBB
Mohammed Zubair relied heavily on a report published by The News Minute (TNM). Shockingly, TNM tried to whitewash the incident as a “prank”.
The report quoted the chairman of the college, who said the accused female students said that it was meant to be a prank, and they deleted the video in front of the victim.
This is understandable considering the context of filing the report seemed less around reporting the actual nature of the crime and more around airing what the defense of the perpetrators was.
— Pratyasha Rath (@pratyasharath) July 26, 2023
Report was on ‘defense’ and response. Not the crime. The lens is clear to all ? https://t.co/8IoSICB4MM
The same ‘prank’ argument was presented by India Today during the report, where Rashmi Samant was also present as a panellist. India Today’s anchor said the police said it was “meant to be a prank”.
On similar lines, Anusha Sood of The South First, a left-wing portal that claims itself to be a media organisation but more often than not acts as a mouthpiece of the Congress party, shared an article whitewashing the criminal act of the three Muslim girls in Udupi as a mere ‘prank’ and blamed those demanding action against the culprits of adding communal colour to the incident.
Their entire propaganda fell like a house of cards when after widespread outrage, the Karnataka police grudgingly filed an FIR against the 3 Muslim women and the university administration – for making the secret videos, destroying evidence and failing to provide evidence and documents to the police.
Even after the FIRs, Zubair, Sood and others continued to peddle half information to further their lies about the case, leaving out crucial information about the FIR. The details of that propaganda can be read here.
With the CID now failing a chargesheet in the Udupi bathroom case, all attempts by the likes of Zubair and other left-liberals to whitewash the crime ended in vain.
