LAHORE: The police lodged a case against the owners and staff of a private girls’ hostel in Johar Town for recording videos of the residents through hidden cameras installed in washrooms, causing apprehensions that these clips may be sold and used in the ‘dark web’ or social media.

The matter surfaced when one of the girls traced a camera in a washroom of the hostel and informed her uncle about it, who reached Lahore and complained to the police high-ups about the criminal activity of the owners and the staff of the hostel.

The Johar Town police inquired into the matter and registered a case on the complaint of girl’s uncle Nasir Mahmood, nominating the owner Mian Saleem, his wife Fouzia Saleem, their employees, including Saghir Akbar, Taimoor Shahzad, Zubair, Irfan and Ali Hassan. Nasir told the police that some 40 young girls, hailing from different districts of Punjab are staying in the hostel.

He said his 17-year-old niece (M) had found the camera when she went to the washroom of the hostel and informed her other residents of it.

An official says this immoral act of the hostel’s owners and management has caused serious apprehensions among the residents and their parents, who fear that the recorded video clips may be sold in the dark web or on social media.

The police official say that some suspects nominated in the FIR have gone underground, while others got pre-arrest bails from the courts. He says the hostel has been vacated, adding that a special team of the investigation police are working on the scam.

Published in Dawn, June 3rd, 2024