The Karnataka Police booked eight college students for allegedly sexually assaulting two female classmates on multiple occasions in Mangaluru, PTI reported on Friday.
The incident came to light after a video of a girl and a boy kissing each other went viral on social media. The video was uploaded by a classmate, who is said to be a minor, according to NDTV.
Police Commissioner N Shashi Kumar said that the video was recorded at a flat shared by two students of the group, The Hindu reported.
“Following a ‘truth or dare’ game held among the classmates in the flat, a classmate kissed another classmate,” Kumar said. “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.”
Subsequently, the college management conducted an inquiry and some of the students connected to the incident were suspended.
However, a police inquiry revealed that all eight boys had sexually assaulted the two girls multiple occasions. One of the girls told the police that the boys allegedly recorded the acts and used the video clips to seek sexual favours from them, according to The Hindu.
All the accused have been charged under Sections 376 (rape), 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 354 (C) (voyeurism) and 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code. They have also been booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, and the Information Technology Act, according to the newspaper.
Kumar said that college managements should be vigilant about the activities of their students and inform the police about cases of extreme indiscipline and misconduct, PTI reported.
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