on 17sept 8 girls in LC Hostal committed suicide after their MMS video went viral by a fellow Student for money.
Three people have been arrested in the case so far.
After massive protests by students demanding action on the alleged leak of objectionable videos from its girls’ hostel, the Chandigarh University administration today suspended the girls’ hostel warden Rajvinder Kaur for alleged misbehavior with students. The university has also been shut for students till Saturday.
On directions from Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, a three-member all-women Special Investigation Team under the supervision of senior IPS officer Gurpreet Deo has also been formed to probe the incident, Punjab’s Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav said. Appealing for peace and urging people to avoid rumours on social media, the top cop in a video assured that the privacy and dignity of everyone concerned will be respected.
Three people have been arrested in the case so far. The accused girl and her boyfriend, a resident of Shimla, were arrested following massive protests by students. Twenty-three-year-old Sunny Mehta works at a travel agency. A second man, who works at a bakery, has also been arrested. His role is not clear yet.
Students ended their protest early morning today after the district administration and police assured them of a fair and transparent investigation into the allegations.
Cops told NDTV last evening that only four videos have been found in the phone of the woman student accused of taking and releasing obscene videos of girls at the hostel university in Punjab’s Mohali. But all these are of this woman which she sent to her boyfriend, Mohali’s top police officer Navreet Singh Virk said. There has also been no suicide attempt at the university, as is being claimed by the protesting students. The videos they claim are being circulated, are yet to be found, he added.
The students at the Chandigarh University have refused to accept the police findings that there is no prima facie evidence that the student had taken obscene videos of other women at the hostel bathroom.
Collage announced closer for 2 days due to Heavy protest
Chandigarh: Girl students at Mohali’s Chandigarh University are scared to use the washroom after a video leak sparked huge protests on campus over the past couple of days. While the protests have died down and the university has announced closure for two days, many students from nearby cities have left for home.
Students have alleged that a girl student shot as many as 60 private videos of her hostel mates and forwarded them to her boyfriend in Shimla. They also alleged that some videos were uploaded on social media and porn websites.
Police have, however, denied this. They have said that the girl had shot videos of herself and shared them with her boyfriend. Police have found no other video of any other girl, and said rumour-mongering had led to panic and protests by the students.
The girl, her boyfriend and another boy said to be her former boyfriend have been arrested.
Speaking to NDTV during the protests last evening, many girl students said they were now scared to use the washroom. Police have also started examining if there are hidden cameras in the hostel.
Asked if there is fear among the students, a protesting girl said, “I am a day scholar, but students staying in hostels, obviously they will be afraid.” She alleged that the university administration has bribed the police, so they are not supporting the students.
Another student said there is no consistency in the police statements, “If she forwarded only her video, why is she in the lock-up? Their statements don’t make sense. We want classes to resume, we want everything to be normal, but at the same time, we don’t want confusion.”
Another student protester slammed the hostel warden, who has now been suspended for allegedly misbehaving with the girl students. “Where is that accused warden who said the problem is in your clothes and not in the videos. She said it is because of your clothes that boys make lewd videos. It is because of that warden that girl students are not comfortable sharing anything with the university authorities.”
Senior police officer Navneet Singh Virk told NDTV that police found only four videos in the girl’s phone of herself. “She sent them to her boyfriend, nothing else. Her phone has been sent for forensic examination. Also, there was no attempt to suicide.” Yesterday, several social media posts claimed that several girls attempted to die by suicide after their videos were leaked. Police, however, said some girls fainted during the protests.
Arvinder Singh Kang, director for students’ welfare at the university, said, “We registered an FIR so that students are satisfied. Have you found any MMS on social media? It is not there because it does not exist. There has been no death, no suicide attempt. It is a matter of investigation how such rumours spread.”