A 21-year-old college student has been arrested for allegedly photographing and recording another student through a window while she was changing clothes.
Both students attend different colleges in the area. The woman was changing in her paying guest accommodation when the man allegedly took photographs from the washroom of another paying guest facility in an adjacent building.
“The woman only learned about the pictures when someone who had seen her video alerted her. She filed a complaint with Bidhannagar police on Thursday morning. Following the complaint, the alleged photographer was arrested,” said an officer of Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate.
The accused, originally from West Midnapore, studies at a private college in Salt Lake and stays at a paying guest accommodation in Nayapatty, Sector V.
The police said voyeurism has emerged as a major problem, as most people now have smartphones with powerful cameras capable of taking high-definition pictures from a distance. Also, new devices, such as eyeglasses that can record videos or take pictures, can also be misused by voyeurs.
“In this case, there is no doubt the accused, an adult, was fully aware it was wrong to film someone in their private moments. Your home is a private place and that privacy cannot be breached,” a senior police officer said.
The police will seize the mobile phone used to take the pictures and said it is also an offence to make private photos or videos public without the knowledge or consent of the person depicted.
Senior officers expressed concern over Peeping Toms taking pictures without
permission.
“Most cases go unreported because the victim doesn’t know they’ve been photographed. Several times, such offences occur on public transport when a co-passenger takes a photograph without permission. Even then, most women backtrack and don’t file formal complaints,” the officer said.
The police are sometimes accused of discouraging women from lodging formal complaints, citing the difficulties of pursuing cases to their conclusion.
However, officers emphasised on Thursday that formal charges for voyeurism and sections under the Information Technology Act can be applied when evidence is found.
“Even if a photograph or video is deleted, it can be retrieved through forensic treatment of the phone. No one should be scared of reporting such offences,” a senior police officer said.