Three female students studying at a prestigious medical institute in Udupi, Karnataka, were suspended for secretly recording another student while she was bathing in the women’s washroom.
The suspended students, named Alimatul Shaifa, Shabanaz, and Aliya, allegedly placed video cameras in the washrooms to capture their fellow students in private moments. When the incident came to light, there were protests by other students who were outraged by the invasion of privacy and demanded strict action against the wrong doers. As a result, the three students were suspended from the institute.
The institute’s director cited two reasons for their suspension: firstly, they had violated the college’s ban on mobile phones by bringing them to the campus, and secondly, they used these phones to record videos in the washroom.
Let me tell you, many of the girls who were featured in the videos are depressed and disturbed to the extent that they are contemplating self-harm/suicide. Yet, this issue is not being condemned with the severity it deserves.
— Rashmi Samant (@RashmiDVS) July 23, 2023
Despite them being suspended now, some individuals on social media drew comparisons to the infamous Ajmer sex scandal that occurred in 1992. The Ajmer scandal involved hundreds of school and college girls being blackmailed with nude photographs and subsequently subjected to gang rapes by men from the minority community.
A human rights activist, Rashmi Samant, connected the Udupi incident with the Ajmer scandal, alleging that the victims in both cases were exploited and pushed towards tragic outcomes. She described a way where the perpetrators would circulate videos and photos through community WhatsApp groups, leading to the blackmail of unsuspecting girls.
Social media outrage
Social media users were outraged by the turn of events and were vocal about their tweets.
I'm from Udupi and nobody is talking about Alimatul Shaifa, Shabanaz and Aliya who placed cameras in female toilets of their college to record hundreds of unsuspecting Hindu girls. Videos and phots that were then circulated in community WhatsApp groups by the perpetrators.
— Rashmi Samant (@RashmiDVS) July 23, 2023
The incident in Udupi was referred to by some social media users as ‘Ajmer 1992 Part 2′, linking it symbolically to the past scandal and raising concerns about the severity of the issue and the need for appropriate condemnation and action.