Chandigarh Uni Video Leak | Accused Girl Was ‘Blackmailed’ To Make Videos: Cops

A Punjab court had on Monday sent the three accused persons to police remand for a week.

Protests at the Chandigarh University were called off at around 2 am on 19 September.

(Photo: Sandeep Singh/The Quint)

A Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Punjab Police on Tuesday, 20 September, said that they have found some purported screenshots of WhatsApp chats on the mobile of the accused woman student, suggesting that she was being "blackmailed" for making videos, sources told PTI.

The police on Tuesday questioned the three accused arrested in connection with the Chandigarh University video case after allegations were levelled that a hosteller had recorded several objectionable videos of women students in the common washroom.

Three persons – a woman student and two men from Himachal Pradesh – were arrested on Monday. One of them was said to be the student's boyfriend.

Sources said that the name of a fourth suspect has also come up during the probe, and that the suspect will be summoned for questioning.

A senior police official said they are waiting for the forensic report of the mobile phone which will throw light on the complete WhatsApp chat to corroborate this.

The Punjab Police had on Monday formed a three-member all-women SIT to probe the allegations levelled by the students of the university.

Two Videos Found During Probe, Says Counsel

The counsel for the accused in the Chandigarh video 'leak' case said on Monday that two videos had been found in connection with the incident so far – one which has the female accused and the other with another female student.

He made these remarks after a Punjab court sent three accused in the case to police remand for a week.

The accused had been presented at the Kharar court in Mohali, where the police sought their custody for 10 days, news agency PTI reported.

Chandigarh University had witnessed massive protests on 17 September, after hostel students alleged that one of the hostellers had recorded private videos of some of the female students in the bathroom, and that such videos had been leaked.

'Matter of Investigation': Counsel on Whether Accused Student Shot Objectionable Videos

When asked whether the female accused had shot private videos of female students, Sandeep Sharma, appearing for the accused, said that it was a matter of investigation.

He also said that the accused will be taken to Shimla to recover the videos, which were allegedly in their possession.

Earlier, the police had arrested the accused woman student, but said on Sunday that she had only shared a video of herself with her boyfriend, who was nabbed from Himachal Pradesh.

Apart from the accused girl's boyfriend, a 31-year-old man was also detained from the state on Sunday and handed over to the Punjab Police.

On 19 September, the Punjab Police formed a three-member special investigation team (SIT) comprising of only women to probe the incident.

The police has also filed a First Information Report (FIR) under Section 354-C (voyeurism) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Information Technology Act.

Students of Chandigarh University had called off their protest after midnight on 19 September after the police assured them of a free and fair investigation in the case.

On the other hand, the Chandigarh University has denied allegations that objectionable videos of some female students had been made.

"All the rumours of objectionable videos shot of other girl students are totally false and baseless. No videos were found of any student which are objectionable except a personal video shot by a girl, which was shared by her with her boyfriend," the university said.

(With inputs from PTI.)