Udupi Bathroom Video Case: BJP activist S Shakunthala arrested over tweets against CM Siddaramaiah’s kin

In her tweet, Shakunthala questioned whether the CM would dismiss the Udupi incident as “children at play” if his own wife or daughter-in-law were victims of such privacy invasion.

| Updated: 29 July, 2023 5:06 pm IST

TUMKUR: S Shakunthala, a mother of two and a BJP activist in Tumkur, had an unforgettable experience on July 28th when eight policemen arrived at her doorstep without warning or a warrant. She was arrested and taken to Bangalore for questioning. The reason behind her arrest was a tweet she posted in response to the Udupi ‘hidden camera’ incident, where three girls were arrested for placing cameras inside a toilet at a private institute.

Narrating her ordeal, Shakunthala stated that the police arrived at 6 am on July 28th and took her into custody without any prior intimation. The police team, which included three female officers, did not provide any explanation for her arrest until she was interrogated for two hours by a senior officer. It was revealed that her tweet, which questioned the response of CM Siddaramaiah to the Udupi incident, had allegedly hurt the CM’s sentiments.

“I was taken by the police to Bangalore for interrogation without any prior intimation or warrant at 6 am on July 28th. Normally, in such situations, there should have been a formal notification from a nearby police station. However, this time, there was no explanation provided by the police team, which included three lady officials, about the reasons for my custody. It was only during a two-hour interrogation with a senior officer that I was informed of the grounds for my arrest. They stated that my tweet regarding the Udupi incident had allegedly hurt the sentiments of CM Siddaramaiah,” shared S Shakunthala with The New Indian.

In her tweet, Shakunthala questioned whether the CM would dismiss the Udupi incident as “children at play” if his own wife or daughter-in-law were victims of such privacy invasion. This tweet prompted a complaint from a Congress worker, leading to her arrest by the Bangalore police.

The BJP had previously protested, demanding the arrest of the girls involved in the Udupi incident. Three minors, accused in the case, surrendered in court and obtained bail, while the college director sought anticipatory bail.

Shakunthala, while speaking to The New Indian, asserted that the Udupi incident is part of a larger network involving fundamentalist groups and is not isolated to the college. She expressed concern that such activities have increased since the Congress government took power in Karnataka. “Such attempts are happening in many places and the forces acting behind them have become more emboldened after the Congress government came to power in Karnataka”, she said.

Accusing the Congress government of appeasing their vote-bank, Shakunthala believes that BJP and RSS activists in the state are being targeted. She sees her arrest as a form of political vendetta.

The incident has raised concerns about freedom of expression and political motivations in the state, sparking discussions on social media and beyond.

Previously, the police in Udupi district had registered a case against three female students from a minority community in relation to an alleged incident of filming a girl in the toilet of a paramedical college. However, this decision came after Superintendent of Police (Udupi district) Hakay Akshay Macchindra clarified that initiating a suo moto case without any direct evidence implicating the students was not possible, while claiming that the accused girls had admitting to indulging in the act for the purpose of “fun”.