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Journalism of Courage
COEP (College of Engineering Pune) University came under fire after a student’s social media post on Sunday evening stated that personal photos and videos of some of the girls’ hostel students were being shared online without their consent. On Monday morning the university constituted a committee to investigate the matter.
Drawing attention to the matter, one of the students took to social media site X to post about the incident on May 5. The tweet said, “A shocking instance of a female student of the prestigious COEP University in Pune sharing photos and videos of other female hostel students has come to light. What is more shocking is that the university has not yet filed a police complaint. This leaves a big question mark on the safety of students in the girls hostel of COEP.”
On the night of May 1, some hostel residents confronted a girl they suspected was secretly taking photos and videos, several hostel residents said. They reportedly found over 900 photographs and videos on the student’s phone and saw that they had been shared with another person over WhatsApp. Commotion and panic followed in the hostel as all residents, especially roommates and friends of the student, became anxious about the content.
“Earlier we could just change in the room, but now everyone is so scared to even change in the washrooms. It is very stressful to imagine where all this personal content would have been shared,” said one of the hostel residents.
While some hostel students that The Indian Express talked with insisted that the matter was brought to the authorities the very next day, the university registrar, DN Sonawane said that they were approached on May 3.
“The matter was brought to the notice of the chief rector on May 3 and we immediately expelled the student from the hostel. The hostel authorities have made some preliminary findings and submitted the report today (Monday). We have constituted a three member committee which will now decide on the matter and take appropriate action,” Sonawane said.
Despite reassurances by the authorities, students’ patience seems to be running thin. A police complaint not being filed yet is the main concern that most of the girls expressed, as they fear that the matter will be silenced by the college internally.
A third year student said, “We have been strictly instructed not to speak about the matter but even after all these days, no concrete action has been taken. So even though many students and parents, especially the victims, want to take this matter further, they also fear it could be detrimental to their academics or placements because all that is in the hands of the college.”
When asked about the reason whu no FIR was filed, the registrar said, “This is a sensitive matter concerning girls. We do not want to take hurried action. Let the committee decide on the matter and we will follow up with appropriate action.”
Another student shared that one of the students who had posted on Instagram about the incident was pressurised to take down the post.
