The police have booked eight students of a reputed college in the city in a sexual assault case. Of these, a boy aged 17 is said to have uploaded on the social media a video clipping showing two of his classmates, a boy and a girl, indulging in lip lock at a flat in an apartment near Light House Hill Road.
The sexual assault by the boys came to light after the video clipping went viral on the social media on Wednesday evening.
Police Commissioner N. Shashi Kumar told reporters here on Thursday that investigation so far has revealed that some students had got together in February in the flat of their two classmates.
Following a “truth or dare” game held among the classmates in the flat, a classmate kissed another classmate and they were in lip lock. One of the boys recorded it and uploaded the clipping on a WhatsApp group of the college recently as he had a grudge against the girl involved in the lip lock.
A teacher of the college who is the admin of the WhatsApp group noticed it. Subsequently, the college management conducted an inquiry and suspended some students in connection with the incident.
Investigation has revealed that all eight boys sexually assaulted the two girls, including the one involved in the kissing act, on different occasions at different locations. Later, the boys recorded the sexual act and used the video clippings to seek further sexual favour from these girls.
“Technically, the college should have brought this cognisable incident to the notice of the police. Why it was not brought to our notice will be probed into,” the Police Commissioner said.
Investigation will be long drawn out and the police will take the incident to its logical end. “College managements should keep a close tab on the activities of students and bring cases of extreme indiscipline and serious misconducts to the notice of the police,” he said.
A case has been registered in the Mangaluru North Police Station for offences punishable under Sections 376, 354, 354 (C) and 120 (B) of the Indian Penal Code. In addition, the boys have been booked under Sections 4, 8, 12, 13, 17 of PoCSO Act and Sections 66 (E) and 67 of IT Act.
A few days ago, the police registered 10 PoCSO cases and arrested 17 people on the charge of sexually assaulting two minor college students. The college authorities had brought the incident to the notice of police thorough Childline, he said.
