look news india
A very serious and shameful case has come to light from Gorakhpur district of Uttar Pradesh, which compromises the security and privacy of girl students. A smartphone kept hidden in the ceiling (tinshed) of the bathroom of a leading private girls hostel of the city was found in working condition, whose video camera was directly focused towards the interior of the bathroom.
There was a huge uproar in the hostel premises after the girl students caught hold of this secret camera. The matter further flared up when the lady warden of the hostel gave a very strange and absurd argument in her defense, saying that she herself had installed the camera to see whether the girl students threw the used ‘sanitary pads’ in the dustbin or not. This argument of the warden further incited the anger of the girl students and their families.
According to the students, who study for competitive exams and college while staying in the hostel, the incident came to light when a student went to the bathroom to take a bath in the morning:
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While bathing, the student’s eyes suddenly fell on a narrow gap between the tin shed and the wall above, where something shining was seen between the plastic and the cloth.
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When he looked carefully, he found that a working smartphone was kept there, whose screen was on and the back camera was active in video recording mode directly below.
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The student immediately raised an alarm, after which other girls of the hostel gathered there. The girl students showed courage and took down the mobile phone, saved the recording and immediately sought answers from the warden.
When the girl students confronted the hostel warden over the phone being caught red-handed, his reply shocked everyone:
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The warden admitted to the cameras and clarified that the girl students in the hostel washroom did not dispose of sanitary pads properly and the pipelines used to get choked, so she only wanted to ‘monitor’ which student was littering.
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Rejecting this argument outright, the students raised the question that installing a camera inside a women’s private bathroom under any circumstances is completely illegal, immoral and a disgusting act. The students fear that this may not be any surveillance, but a well-planned conspiracy to blackmail them by recording objectionable videos or leaking them on some online network.
After the incident, dozens of girl students of the hostel came out on the road and started protesting demanding strict action against the hostel management and the warden. As soon as the information was received, top officials of the local police and women police force reached the spot.
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Mobile seized, sent for forensic investigation: The police have seized the mobile phone found in the tin shed from the spot with immediate effect.
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Checking data recovery and cloud backup: The police cyber crime team is examining the phone to find out how many videos have been recorded so far, whether any video has been uploaded to any WhatsApp group, Telegram channel or cloud storage, and whether any footage has already been deleted.
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Case filed: On the basis of the complaint lodged by the girl students, the police have filed a case against the accused warden and the hostel operator under sections of the Indian Justice Code (BNS) (voyeurism and insulting the dignity of women) and IT Act An FIR has been registered under relevant serious sections.
This incident has increased the concern of parents who send their daughters to various hostels and PGs in the city. Parents say that while daughters consider themselves to be the safest, if such heinous acts take place, then how will the safety of the girls be ensured. Local social organizations and student unions have demanded from the district administration that a surprise inspection of all private girls hostels and lodges in the city should be conducted and a strict audit should be conducted of the security standards and condition of cameras there.