K’taka: Cops accused of harassing woman activist’s family over filming in girls’ restrooms issue

By Newsroom Odisha Network On Jul 25, 2023

Bengaluru: The police in Karnataka have been accused of harassing a woman activist’s family after she raised her voice against the incident of filming of Hindu girls by some Muslim female students in a college restroom.

The opposition BJP and Hindu groups in the southern state have criticised the police for “harassing the activist instead of initiating action against the Muslim girls who recorded the objectionable videos”.

Rashmi Samant, the woman activist, reacting on the incident, posted on social media: “I’m from Udupi and nobody is talking about Alimatul Shafia, Shabanaz and Aliya who placed cameras in female toilets of their college to record hundreds of unsuspecting Hindu girls. Videos and photos were then circulated in community WhatsApp groups by the perpetrators.

How to whitewash a crime? Call the criminal recording of the female toilet a prank! I am from Udupi and absolutely ashamed to see this level of absolute bullshit,” she wrote.

The post has gone viral and triggered a debate in the communally sensitive coastal Karnataka region.

The police have been accused of entering her house in the night on Monday and repeatedly questioning and harassing her family members.

Adhitya Srinivasan, counsel for Samant, said: “At around 8 p.m. on Monday, a group of policemen visited the residence of Rashmi Samant. As she was not at home at the time, it was her parents who were questioned by the police and repeatedly asked about Rashmi’s whereabouts.”

Samant further said: “Crime is a crime when it is convenient for minorities. It’s Hindutva terror when it’s inconvenient for the minorities. Fact won’t change, victims were Hindu and perpetrators were Muslim. It is misinformed to say that the Karnataka police is acting against me. They tried to intimidate me with no probable cause, very different from trying to combat misinformation. It’s both funny and sad to see an entire ecosystem, including police trying to pin me down for speaking out against a crime instead of taking action against the perpetrators. Godspeed to this society and establishment!”

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator Basanagouda Patil Yatnal on Tuesday sought to know “if the police were sent to the residence of the woman activist to instill fear?”

“In democracy, police harassment is given for speaking the truth, Udupi police, what is happening? DGP and IGP should initiate action against the district superintendent of police. If he wants to pursue politics, let him tender resignation and join politics,” Yatnal said.

Yashpal Suvarna, a BJP legislator from Udupi, said: “I don’t know whether there is a video clipping or not, action must be initiated after taking suo moto case. The act of police going to Rashmi Samanth’s residence and torturing her family can’t be tolerated.”

Meanwhile, Udupi SP Hakay Akshay Machchindra clarified that since Rashmi Samanth had tweeted about the incident, her account had been inspected and the police spoke to her family members in this connection.

The incident of the three female students of a college belonging to a minority community being suspended for recording videos of Hindu girls in college restrooms was reported last week.

The incident took a communal turn with allegations surfacing about girls belonging to the minority community recording personal videos in restrooms and sending them to male students.

It was also alleged that these male students, also belonging to the minority community, would go on to make the videos viral on the social media.

According to sources, some Hindu girls also questioned the accused female students on the campus, leading to arguments and confrontation.

The issue has already created a flutter in the state’s political arena, with the BJP announcing state-wide protests on July 27, demanding the arrest of three Muslim female students involved in filming the Hindu girls.

–IANS