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A 27-year-old man employed in the accounts department of a private firm has been arrested by the Bengaluru police for secretly filming women on the city’s Namma Metro and uploading the videos online. The videos were posted earlier this week to a new Instagram account called metro_chicks, which had gained over 5,000 followers, and were also shared via a Telegram channel.
The accused has been identified as Digant, a resident of Peenya.
On a public transit system used by thousands of commuters each day, women became unsuspecting subjects of digital voyeurism. The Instagram account uploaded 14 videos in total, each one zooming in on women’s faces and torsos without their knowledge or consent. While comments were disabled, the captions were often things like “finding beautiful girls on Namma Metro,” accompanied by disturbing background music.
The content sparked widespread outrage, prompting the Banashankari police to register a First Information Report (FIR) on May 20.
The accused has been booked under Section 67 of the Information Technology Act, 2008, which deals with the publication or transmission of obscene material electronically, and Section 78(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, which pertains to stalking.
Police say the accused had no prior record of such behaviour and allegedly filmed the women during his daily work commute.