A female journalist has alleged that she was filmed by a CCTV camera while trying out clothes at a garments store in M Block Market in south Delhi’s Greater Kailash, the police said.
She claimed that instead of directing her to a trial room, the store’s staff “misled” her into entering a storeroom equipped with a CCTV camera.
The shopkeeper defended himself and his staff, and said she “accidentally” strayed into the storeroom and that a woman staffer alerted her as soon as the “mistake” was realised.
Parvinder Singh, additional deputy commissioner of police (south), said a case of voyeurism has been registered at Greater Kailash police station and the probe that has been initiated includes seizing the CCTV’s digital video recorder. However, no one was arrested at the time this report was filed.
The alleged incident took place when the woman visited the store on August 31. She said she had picked up some clothes to try, when one of the women staff members pointed to a room where could she could trial the clothes.
“I was trying out the clothes when the same woman knocked on the door and urged me to leave the room. Alarmed by her urging, I looked around to find a CCTV camera in the room,” the woman told HT.
She alleged that the footage from the room was visible on a monitor facing the shopkeeper.
The woman said she felt violated and urged the shopkeeper to delete the footage, even as local shopkeepers gathered. “It was after a lot of hassle that the shopkeeper agreed to delete the footage, but I am not sure if the footage was actually deleted,” the woman said.
She called the police soon after, who arrived at the scene.
The shopkeeper said he has apologised to the woman for the episode, but insisted that neither he nor the staffers were at fault.
“The two trial rooms and the large storeroom are located next to each other and have signboards outside them. One of the staffers pointed the trial room out to her, but she accidentally entered the storeroom, which is under CCTV camera cover,” the shopkeeper said.
“As soon as a woman staff member noticed it, she knocked on the door and urged her to move to the trial room,” the shopkeeper said.
On Tuesday, the police registered a case and her statement was recorded in court on Friday.