Protests at Chandigarh University over alleged objectionable videos of hostel students, one arrested

Protests erupted on the campus of a private university in Punjabs Mohali over rumours that objectionable videos of several women students were recorded by a hosteller following which Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Sunday ordered a probeAfter a preliminary investigation police arrested a woman student and dispatched a team to apprehend a youth in Himachal PradeshPunjabs Additional Director General of Police Gurpreet Deo who reached the Chandigarh University campus along with other senior officials to take stock of the situation after the overnight protests told reporters that the woman student appeared to have shared a video of herself with the youth and no objectionable video of any other student was foundUniversity authorities also rejected reports that claimed videos of several women students in the varsity hostel were made and shared on social media and several students had attempted suicide after the episodeAlso read NCW takes cognisance of leaked videos of Chandigarh University studentsMohali Senior Superintendent of Police Vivek Sheel Soni told reporters that the protests erupted in the university past midnight after a rumour that videos of several women students had been made and leakedThe arrested students mobile phone has been taken seized for forensic analysis he said adding no suicide attempt by any student or death has occurredAn FIR under IPC section 354C voyeurism and the IT Act has been registered in the matter and further probe is on officials saidChief Minister Mann ordered the probe into the incident saying strict action will be taken against those found guiltySad to hear about the unfortunate incident at Chandigarh Universityour daughters are our honoura highlevel inquiry has been ordered into the incidentsevere action will be taken against whoever is found guilty said Mann in a tweet in PunjabiI am in touch with the administration said Mann while appealing to people not to believe rumoursThe incident sparked a flurry of reactions from political parties and the central and state womens rights bodies too stepped inDelhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal said those involved in the incident will get the harshest punishmentVictim girls should keep courage We are all with you All should act with patience he said in a tweet in HindiPunjab State Women Commission Chairperson Manisha Gulati visited the university campusI understand parents concern and I want to assure them that the incident is being investigated by the police she saidIt is a matter of deep investigation why the woman who made the video did so Whether or not she shot videos of other girls is a matter of investigation Gulati saidIn a statement the National Commission for Women NCW said its chairperson Rekha Sharma has written to the Director General of Police of Punjab to immediately file an FIR against the culprits and to deal with the matter strictly and without any laxityThe victims must be given proper counselling and their safety and security must be ensured the NCW saidThe womens rights body has also written to Vice Chancellor Chandigarh University to take stringent action against the culprits in accordance with the law and investigate the matter extensivelyOpposition leaders including Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring former chief minister Amarinder Singh Shiromani Akali Dal leader and former Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal and senior Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa demanded exemplary punishment for the guiltyBadal said authorities should make all facts public and not try to suppress anythingBajwa who is the Leader of the Opposition in the state said The Chandigarh University incident is sickening The perpetrators of this crime should be dealt with strongly and given exemplary punishment We as a society should report anyone who forwards the videos and stand with our sisters in this tough timeBriefing reporters at the university campus ADGP Deo who is also holding the charge of women and child affairs said many rumours about the case were circulating on various social media platforms There are 4000 girl students who live in the hostel One has been arrested by police Her phone has been taken into police possession and state cyber crime is conducting its analysisDeo said that three to four girl students spotted the accused student in the common washroom where she was taking some pictures with her phone which they thought she was taking from underneath the bathroom door They then reported the matter to the warden and subsequently the police were informed DrArvinder Singh Kang Director Students Welfare of Chandigarh University said At the preliminary level we investigated and did not find that videos of other students were madeFor fair investigation university authorities got the FIR registered into the incident for a thorough and fair probe Rumours regarding attempted suicide by some students and MMS of 60 students are not correct he saidMohali SSP Soni said that a woman investigating officer has been deputed to investigate the incidentIf you look at the sequence of events so far now in our investigation it has come to notice that the video was only of herself Apart from this there is no video of any other student he saidReferring to a video of a student being taken in an ambulance the SSP said she had some anxiety problems and was fineReplying to a question on the hostel warden the SSP said she questioned the woman student who was later arrested to find information on whether she had made a video of any other studentNotably in a video the warden is purportedly seen asking the woman student Who told you to record the videoYou will be suspendedThe warden is then seen pointing towards some other women students who are also present and could be heard saying Dont these girls have honour At whose behest did you do this Who told you to make itThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or 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