About 10 students from Delhi University’s Bharti College alleged that they were secretly filmed while changing in the IIT-Delhi washroom for a fashion show during the institute’s ongoing fest, police said on Saturday.

The girls from Bharti College’s Elantre Society, in a video posted on social media, alleged that the administration didn’t take action against the accused even after being informed.  A complaint was received at Kishangarh police station regarding the incident and the accused, a 20-year-old contractual sweeper, was arrested, the police said.

“Today, a complaint was received through X at Kishangarh police station regarding making a video in the ladies washroom of IIT-Delhi by a boy,” a senior police officer said. A case under Section 354C (voyeurism) of the Indian Penal Code was registered at Kishangarh police station on Saturday and the accused -- a contractual sweeper -- was arrested and sent to judicial custody, the officer added.  Further investigation is underway, he added.

Meanwhile, IIT-Delhi has issued a statement saying the matter was handed over to the police immediately and added the institute has “zero tolerance” for such cases.  “The accused, in an unfortunate and regrettable incident, on October 6, was immediately handed over to the Delhi Police that is investigating the matter. He was identified as an employee of an agency to which housekeeping services have been outsourced,” it said.

“The institute treated the matter with the utmost seriousness and urgency it deserved. The institute is fully cooperating with the police and has a zero-tolerance policy for any such instance,” it added.

The Delhi University Students’ Union also condemned the incident and demanded strict action against the accused. In a letter DUSU president Tushar Dedha urged the Delhi police to take strict action in this case.

NSUI’s national secretary Nitish Gaur who participated in a fashion show competition at IIT Delhi, said, “  “On the day of the competition, their convenor Fatima ma’am forced us to participate in the event, even though we were not well prepared and she was not with us.

They had no choice but to comply with her orders and perform on the stage. However, what happened next was beyond our worst nightmare”.

“A housekeeping staff of IIT Delhi, who was supposed to maintain the cleanliness and hygiene of the premises, secretly recorded our alleged videos while some of our girls were changing in the washroom. The washroom was supposed to be a safe and private space for them, but this man violated our privacy and dignity by his disgusting act. We caught him red-handed with his mobile phone and confronted him. He confessed to his crime and begged for forgiveness,” Gaur said in a press statement issued to media.

“They immediately informed the authorities of IIT Delhi and demanded strict action against him. However, to our utter disappointment, they did not take the matter seriously and tried to cover up the incident. They did not register an FIR against the culprit, nor did they assure us that the videos would be deleted or not circulated,” he said.