A 34-year-old lawyer was caught allegedly recording objectionable videos of women using a spy camera at a prominent shopping mall in South Delhi’s Saket on Saturday evening. The suspect was seen following girls and women wearing skirts and standing close to them by the manager of a store in the mall. On being searched, the advocate was found to have hidden a spy camera under the shoelace of his right shoe. He had managed to record some indecent videos from behind, a police official of South district said on Sunday.
Identified as Aashish Sharma, a resident of neighbouring Faridabad in Haryana, he was arrested after police registered a case of outraging the modesty of women under Sections 354C and 354D of the Indian Penal Code at Saket Police Station.
His questioning revealed that his father had served as the consumer forum president of Karnal district in Haryana. He reportedly confessed to have bought the spy camera through online and was recording offensive videos for himself. He was later released on bail as the charges invoked against him were all bailable, a cop said.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) South district Prem Nath said that the alleged accused is employed with a corporate law firm and was caught recording offensive videos of women at the up market shopping mall in Saket.
“Sharma was arrested after the spy cam was found hidden in his right shoe. The spy cam was attached with a 16 GB memory card to store the videos. There were some objectionable recorded videos in the hidden camera which has been seized by the police. It will be sent for forensic examination,” the DCP said. “Girls and women visiting the mall need to be alert and immediately report to the police if they notice any suspicious movement,” the DCP added
The DCP said that Sharma was caught by the manager of a women’s fashion store at the shopping mall as he was seen roaming aimlessly inside the mall and following women dressed in short dresses. The store manager noticed the man standing behind one such women in an unusual manner and placing his right foot close to their bodies. This was enough to raise doubts about the activities of the man and the managed raised an alarm. Realising that he was caught, the suspect tried to flee the spot but was soon over powered by the security personnel deployed at the mall,” he further said.
Sharma was questioned at length by the local police officials and he confessed that he was recording objectionable videos of women, and also apologised for his indecent acts before he took out the hidden camera from his right shoe.
“Sharma’s interrogation revealed that he had visited the shopping mall on Friday last as well with similar intentions. Ten objectionable videos were found in the memory card of the hidden camera. Though he denied uploading such videos online or circulating them among friends, we are examining his social networking sites accounts and mobile phones to verify his claims,” the officer said.