Irani spots camera in trial room of Fabindia, FIR filed
The Calangute police in Goa on Friday arrested four salesmen from the Fabindia clothes outlet in Candolim area hours after Union HRD minister Smriti Irani, who went to the outlet to buy clothes, spotted a camera allegedly recording women changing clothes in the shop’s trial room on Friday afternoon.
According to the Calangute police, the accused have been identified as Paresh Bhagat ( 26), Raju Payanache ( 24), Prashant Naik ( 20) and Karim Lakhani ( 24). The police arrested them and alleged that they knew the video camera was recording women changing clothes in the trial room. The police suspect the four might have played a role in the crime.
At around 1 pm, Ms Irani went to the shop with her husband Zubin Irani. She liked some clothes and, while trying them on in the trial room, she spotted the camera lens which was pointing right inside the trial room. Ms Irani raised an alarm and also contacted BJP legislator Michael Lobo in Goa.
Speaking to this newspaper, superintendent of police ( north) Umesh Gaonkar said, “There are multiple CCTV cameras at the outlet. We will be analysing all the footage from all the cameras. We
have seized the camera and the computer which was allegedly being used to tape women changing clothes in the trial room, and the hard disk for storing the videos. We are analysing it.”
Mr Lobo informed the press that the camera had been installed for the past four months and they found that the device had recorded videos of women changing clothes.
The Calangute police has recorded Ms Irani’s statement.
The accused have been booked under IPC Sections 354 ( sexual harassment), 354 C ( voyeurism), 509 ( word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman), 34 ( common intention) read with Section 66 E ( punishment for violation of privacy) of the Information Technology Act. More arrests are likely in the case.
The newspaper tried contacting the Fabindia outlet in Goa but multiple phone calls went unanswered. Phone calls and text messages sent to Mr Mukesh Chauhan, CFO of Fabindia, also went unan- swered.
Fabindia MD William Bissel told a television news channel, “We have security cameras in all stores... The cameras are placed where shop- lifting can occur... They are not inside the trial rooms. We are still investigating the case. Our teams have seen the recording. We have not been able to clarify what Lobo has said.”