A 47-year-old landlord was arrested by the DB Marg police station for allegedly installing a hidden camera inside the room of three girls who were staying as paying guests in his 4-bedroom upmarket apartment in south Mumbai.
The DB Marg police arrested the landlord on December 19 under various IPC sections for outraging the modesty of a woman and the Information Technology (IT) Act. He was remanded in police custody. Police said the Girgaum metropolitan magistrate granted him bail on December 22 on certain conditions. Police said that the accused, who stays with his elderly parents, is unmarried and has a business of trading in gift boxes.
Police have seized the hidden camera which was in one of the adapters of his high-end mobile phone. He had recorded and stored several videos as well as audio clippings of his paying guests.
According to police, the accused was caught after he started repeating the conversation of these girls exactly the way they had said. “Initially, the girls thought that the accused may be overhearing their talk.
‘Footage dates back to nearly a year & a half’
One of the girls found an electric adapter fitted in their room. That raised her suspicion and she put a piece of cloth over it. The accused immediately came to the girls’ room under the pretext of checking it and asked the girls as to why they had covered it up,’’ said an officer.
Police said that the accused then told them that the adapter was an antenna booster for his TV. It was then that the girls clicked a picture of the adapter and searched the internet—only to find it was a hidden camera available for sale online. They approached DB Marg police and lodged a complaint. Police said that they are probing whether the accused has shared the videos of these girls with others and whether he has filmed paying guests earlier. Sources said the footage dates back to nearly a year and a half.
A senior police official said they would ensure the girls’ identity would be protected. “These guys will be emboldened further if not checked early,” he added.
“Section 66E of the IT Act will apply to the facts of the case. This section punishes a violation of a person’s privacy,”
“The punishment is three years imprisonment, unfortunately, makes it a bailable offence.’’
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