Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday, August 1 addressed the filming incident involving three Muslim students at a local paramedical college in Udupi. He said that a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP) level officer was investigating the case. In the incident, the students had recorded a video of a Hindu student in the restroom using a mobile phone.
Speaking to reporters, CM Siddaramaiah said, “The investigation has been assigned to a DySP-level officer who is currently probing the matter. The National Commission for Women (NCW) also intervened in the case, and their team visited the spot.” He added that "appropriate measures” would be taken once the investigation is concluded and a comprehensive report is submitted.
After the incident came to light, the college suspended the three students. The police initially didn't register a case as the Hindu student who was filmed didn't file a complaint.
Many right-wing groups had spread misinformation on social media that nude videos of hundreds of Hindu women were being circulated among Muslim men as part of a larger ‘Jihadi conspiracy’. On July 25, Udupi Superintendent of Police Hakay Akshay Machhindra had said that there was no hidden camera placed inside the restroom and that they had not found any evidence of the video recorded in the restroom being shared with others. The same day, college management held a press conference reporting that the three students had confessed to making a video and were later suspended by the college authorities.
Following this, the police filed a suo motu case against the three Muslim students and college administration under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and Information Technology Act. On July 28, a court in Udupi granted conditional bail to the three students involved in the incident.
Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Akhila Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) held protests in Udupi alleging a bigger conspiracy and demanding a Special Investigation Team to probe the case.