BENGALURU: An incident in Udupi caused an uproar in Karnataka earlier in the week, as three schoolgirls allegedly recorded another student inside a paramedical college's restroom while secretly carrying mobile phones that were banned. As per the institution director apparently, the three students told the other students that they were 'pranking' someone else and had inadvertently videographed someone else and, they also said that they deleted the video in front of her.

Soon the incident took a communal turn on social media after some claims emerged that the videos of Hindu women recorded in the washroom were circulated among Muslim men. It sparked heated debates between political parties, with the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) demanding the arrest of the girls involved, while the Congress Party raised concerns about the incident being politicized. 

Police sources quoted in the media feared that the incident could snowball into a major controversy, somewhat like the hijab row of January 2022, which had also erupted in Udupi. Speaking to reporters, Udupi Superintendent of Police Hakay Akshay Machhindra tried to allay fears, he said, "There’s a lot of confusion as many people are sharing misinformation on social media. I am here to clarify that the video was not shared with anyone. Many have said that there was a hidden camera inside the restroom and videos were being shot. No such thing has come to our attention.”

The incident also saw the National Commission for Women (NCW) member and BJP leader Khushbu Sundar visiting the place of the incident who after meeting with the police and others she also dismissed the claims of 'hidden cameras' in the washroom of a private paramedical college and said, "there is no truth to it."

After categorically rejecting any communal angle in the case and urging the public not to believe in rumours, however, seeing that the situation was escalating and due to continuous protests by BJP the Malpe police in Udupi registered 2 suo moto cases in connection with Udupi college video recording incident.

One case was against 3 students and college authorities for the said incident and another one was against a Twitter account for peddling fake news and misinformation about the incident. The college director and the three minor girls were charged with outraging the modesty of a woman. While the college director sought anticipatory bail, the three accused minors then surrendered in court and were granted bail.

Later on, based on complaints of Congress workers, the police also arrested and later released on station bail a BJP woman activist, Shakuntala H S, after she dared to question the Karnataka Chief Minister's reaction to a sensitive incident in Udupi on Twitter. The activist's tweet was in response to a Congress social media post that termed the Udupi toilet recording incident involving three minor girls from a minority community as a mere prank among kids and not a communal issue.