Two held for 'voyeurism'; private engineering college principal among seven booked in Hyderabad

NEW DELHI: Two persons were arrested for alleged voyeurism after some female students at a private engineering college in Medchal, near Hyderabad, accused the cooking staff of recording them in the hostel washrooms, police said on Sunday. After protests were held at the college over the voyeurism issue on January 1 and 2, a case was registered against seven people, including the two arrested individuals, the principal, director, and chairman of the college.

Based on the complaint of the students, the case was registered at Medchal police station on charges of voyeurism, abetment to commit a crime, and other relevant sections of the IPC, besides the POCSO Act. During the investigation, the police apprehended two persons, both aged 20, who were accused of peeping into the washrooms of the students. One of them works as a cook's helper, a police official said, adding that they were sent to judicial custody on Saturday.

Accused targeted hostel girls

It has been established that the two accused targeted the hostel girls when they used the washrooms, according to a release from the Cyberabad Police Commissionerate. The two arrested individuals were provided accommodation near the girls' hostel washrooms, giving them easy access and posing a serious threat to the privacy and safety of the minor victims, police said. The girls' hostel wardens displayed negligence when the victims disclosed the incident, intentionally avoiding escalating the matter to the police or the parents of the victims, police added.

The principal, director, and chairman pressured the hostel wardens to contain the exposure of the incident in order to protect the college's reputation but showed no interest in reporting the matter to the relevant authorities, which emboldened and abetted the two arrested individuals to carry out the voyeurism, police said. The case is under investigation.