MP: 3 students of govt college held for taking photos of girls changing clothes before event

Mandsaur (MP), Oct 15 (PTI) Police have detained three students of a government college in Madhya Pradesh's Mandsaur district on the charge of secretly taking photographs of girls while they were changing clothes ahead of a cultural event there, officials said on Wednesday.

All the accused, who are in the age group of 20 to 22, are members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). One of them is the city secretary of the organisation, an official said.

The incident occurred on Tuesday at the Bhanpura Government College and the police took action based on a written complaint from its acting principal, he said.

Mandsaur Superintendent of Police Vinod Meena said the college principal submitted a written complaint, following which footage from the CCTV cameras installed on the premises was examined.

"The CCTV footage clearly showed that four boys were attempting to peep through a window. Based on the finding, a case was registered against them under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), and three of them have been taken into custody," he said.

There are four accused in the case, and the police have detained three of them, while the fourth one is absconding, he said.

The mobile phones of the detained accused have been seized and will be forensically examined, he added.

Further action will be taken based on this, according to him.

Dr Preeti Pancholi, acting principal of the college, told reporters that a youth festival was held at the university on Tuesday, and the girls were preparing to present cultural programmes when the incident took place.

"While they were getting ready, they felt that someone was taking their photo through the window. They complained about this to us," she said.

The CCTV footage then showed one student standing on the shoulder of the other and taking photographs.

The principal said a police complaint was subsequently filed in the matter.

Talking to PTI Videos, district convenor of the ABVP, Chandraraj Pawar, said, "The incident has come to our notice and we will investigate it." But ABVP's city secretary Umesh Joshi has been removed from his post with immediate effect in the wake of the incident, he added. PTI COR BNS MAS NP