A cleaning staff of a restaurant in Surat was arrested on Monday after he allegedly placed his mobile phone in recording mode on the sill of a ventilation window inside the women’s restroom, police said.
The accused has been identified as Surendra Rana (30), a native of Jharkhand, who had been working at the K Charcoal restaurant in Piplod area of Surat for the last three years.
The restaurant issued a statement informing that it would initiate a thorough screening of every staffer. The management also announced that it would keep the restaurant closed until the safety measures are put in place.
The issue came to light when a customer at the restaurant went to the bathroom, said police sources. The woman spotted something unusual on the ventilation window following which she climbed up the commode and spotted a mobile phone, they added. On checking the device, the woman found that she was being recorded, they said.
The video had also managed to capture the person who was placing the mobile phone at the ventilation window, said the sources.
The restaurant management identified the person seen in the video as Rana, who immediately fled the spot.
Umra police staff noted down statements of the woman, the hotel management and other staffers. A few hours later, Rana was caught and brought to the police station.
Following the woman’s complaint, Surat Police have registered an offence under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Sections 77 (pertaining to voyeurism) and 79 (acts intended to insult the modesty of a woman). Besides, relevant sections of the Information Technology Act have also been invoked.
Umra police inspector J A Rathwa told The Indian Express, “We have arrested the accused. There are around 50 employees at the restaurant, of whom 40 are men. The accused was assigned the job of cleaning the female washroom area. Rana’s wife and children stay at their native place in Jharkhand while he stays with his younger brother, who is also an employee of the same restaurant, in Surat. We have checked his mobile phone and found five video clips of the same washroom.”
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He further said, “The mobile phone he was using to film the woman in the washroom is without a SIM card. He transfers the videos to another phone, which he uses regularly, with a SIM card. We have sent both the seized mobile phones to the Forensic Science Laboratory for further analysis. We are also interrogating the accused to get more details. A few porn videos were found in his other mobile phone.”
Later in the day, K’s Charcoal restaurant issued a press release stating the management was “deeply shocked” and “saddened” by the incident. “We sincerely regret and strongly condemn this act, which goes against the trust and values we stand for. The management, owners, and even our families use the same facilities. We stand in full support of the Surat Police Department and are fully cooperating in the investigation of the arrested staff member,” the statement read.
The press release further stated, “Though all our staff members had been police-verified, we are now initiating a fresh, thorough screening of every individual. To reassure our guests, we have also taken the decision to temporarily close the restaurant until these safety measures are completed. The privacy and safety of our guests is our highest priority, and we promise to rebuild your trust with stronger safeguards than ever before.”
