The BJP on Thursday staged a demonstration near Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara's residence, accusing the Congress government of supporting "terrorists" and siding with the accused girls in the Udupi washroom video case. Protests also erupted in various parts of Karnataka, including Udupi, with the BJP claiming that the Congress was engaging in "appeasement politics", reported news agency PTI.
National Commission for Women (NCW) member Khushbu Sundar said, "There are rumours that there were hidden cameras in toilets. There is no truth in it. False videos are going around. It is an institution so there can't be any hidden cameras. We are talking to the police. The investigation from the police department and the investigation from our side will continue, and we'll come to a conclusion very soon."
The protests were sparked by the Udupi 'restroom video' case, in which a camera was allegedly hidden in the washroom of a private paramedical college by three students to record videos of their classmate. The three accused have been booked for the alleged offence.
The protests turned heated in Bengaluru, as activists raised slogans outside Parameshwara's residence, alleging that the Home Minister was preparing to withdraw police cases against rioters involved in the DJ Halli and KG Halli riots from three years ago. These riots had resulted in the torching of the residence of a sitting Congress Dalit MLA, Akhanda Srinivasa Murthy, and KG Halli police stations, leading to three fatalities and over 50 injuries.
Parameshwara had considered a request from a Congress MLA to withdraw cases against "innocent" youths and students who were arrested under "false cases" during protests and riots in various places, including DJ Halli, KG Halli, Shivamogga, and Hubballi. The BJP fiercely criticized the Congress government, accusing it of providing a "clean chit to communal criminals" and acting in favour of "Jihadists and PFI terrorists." Despite the police barricades preventing the activists from reaching Parameshwara's house, they were detained and taken away.
Meanwhile, in Udupi, students and members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) also staged demonstrations against the Congress government. The ABVP activists, predominantly girls, demanded justice and a prompt investigation into the Udupi case of secretly filming a fellow student in a washroom, the PTI report stated.
Parameshwara responded to the protests, stating that he never deemed the Udupi incident as an innocent act of children and suggested that such issues should be resolved among students. However, he questioned the significance of the National Commission for Women member Khushbu Sundar's visit to Udupi to inquire about the washroom filming case when the commission had not gone to Manipur, where two women were molested and paraded naked recently.