Employee of Max shopping mall in Silchar caught secretly video-recording inside women’s trial room, arrested by the Police

An employee of a reputed shopping mall in Silchar was arrested last night on the allegation of secretly video-recording people inside the women’s trial room. The incident happened at the Max Shopping Mall situated in Club Road of Silchar when two female customers caught an employee of the mall red-handed inside the women’s trial room while trying to video-record with a smartphone.

While the issue of privacy has been facing challenges in this age of surveillance, incidents like this are sure to erode the confidence of customers in visiting such shopping malls in Silchar. On Tuesday evening, two girls, who are students of the Silchar Medical College & Hospital, were shopping at the Max Shopping Mall when they decided to use the women’s trial situated on the 2nd floor of the building at around 7:20 pm.

Inside the trial room, the customers suddenly realized that someone was capturing their video secretly from the top of the trial room. Upon realizing this, they quickly came out of the trial room and apprehended the perpetrator Bikash Ghosh, who is an employee at the Mall.

Initially, it created a huge ruckus as some fellow customers also came forward in support of the two victims and started questioning the accused. Later, when CCTV video footage was checked in the security room of the mall, it was found that Bikash was exiting the said trial room at the time of the incident, which confirmed the victims’ allegation.

When Bikash Ghosh was confronted with the CCTV footage, he later admitted his indulgence in this shameless act but kept on claiming that he could not record anything although he tried doing so. Later, Sadar Thana was contacted after which the police came and arrested the perpetrator. The two victims informed us that they have already filed an FIR at the Silchar Sadar Thana regarding this incident.

“We are investigating the matter and would like to keep it discreet for now. However, I want to reiterate, it is extremely important for employers who are hiring people, especially for sensitive jobs like manning a trial room and all, it is very important to apply and get the Character and Antecedent Certificate, Verification done”, said Silchar SP Numal Mahato. He further added, “We will further emphasize the importance of the same and circulate it widely in Cachar to ensure that employers are applying for the verification. Through this verification process, we will get to know if there are criminal records against the individual”.

Although, during the confrontation, Bikash kept on insisting that he did so only out of security concerns, as apparently many customers allegedly involve themselves in shoplifting under the pretext of using the trial rooms. He claimed that they had suspicion over the two customers and that is the sole reason why he decided to record the customers inside the trial room.

The incident has created a sense of chaos and distrust among the people of Silchar, especially those who frequent the Max Shopping Mall. Frequent customers of the mall have been voicing their concern and anxiety on social media regarding this utter breach of privacy and safety of women in Silchar. Meanwhile, the management of the Max Shopping Mall has acknowledged this incident and has also assured that if Bikash Ghosh is found guilty, strict action will be taken against him.