Rankaj Verma is a Himachal Pradesh-based Indian travel agent accused of being involved in the Chandigarh University MMS video incident (2022).
PERSONAL INFORMATION
Rankaj Verma was born in the village of Sandhu, Theog, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh in 1991. In Shimla, he works at a tour agency. There isn’t much information about his parents. Pankaj Verma is his brother’s name.
PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
Height (approx.): 5′ 7″
Hair Colour: Brown
Eye Colour: Brown
MMS SCANDAL AT CHANDIGARH UNIVERSITY
On September 17, 2022, at Chandigarh University’s girls’ hostel, a female student accused another girl of filming her while she was showering. While having a bath, the female student discovered that the other girl (a university MBA first-year student) had left a mobile phone in her bathroom. She was stunned to see it and immediately inquired about the phone with the accused girl. She then summoned other females from the dormitory, who began questioning the accused girl about the entire situation. Later, a video of the hostel girls questioned the accused girl by her fellow hostelers became popular on social media. The accuser initially claimed that she created her own video for her partner. The girls then summoned their warden, Rajwinder Kaur, and when the warden interrogated the accused girl about it, she admitted to making the videos of the girls. A video of the accused girl confessing to making the film and sending it to her lover Sunny Mehta from Shimla went viral on social media.
She then opened her WhatsApp conversation and stated that a boy named Rankaj Verma had requested videos of the girls.
The accused girl claimed that the lads blackmailed her into making the tapes. Later, she admitted to making bathing films of the girls for the past few months. Because there were approximately 60 females residing at the same hostel where the accused girl was staying, it was presumed that she had made movies of approximately 60 girls. The warden then reported the incident to the university administration team, who filed a complaint against the girl in Mohali Police Station under Section 354-C of the IPC and the IT Act. As soon as the situation at the university became heated, the accused girl was put in a room to protect her from other students. Later, one of the university’s students stated, “The hostel where the incident occurred was a boy’s hostel until the last session.” When the number of females admitted rose this year, it was turned into a girls’ hostel. Because of the Boys Hostel, no partitions were built in the bathroom. The new student had only been for a month and the bathing space in the hostel bathroom was still common. As a result, they were unaware of the video created by the accused girl. Many of the movies, according to the females, were also shot through holes in bathroom doors. Because there is no CCTV in this dormitory, it is nearly impossible to verify all of these claims.”
According to the preliminary inquiry, Mohali Police stated that the girl did not send MMS and instead sent a video to her boyfriend. According to some of the female hostlers, wardens originally asked them to close the case. Later, on her WhatsApp number, one of the female victims received a menacing call from Canada. During the call, the girl was abused and threatened. Soon after, the protest grew in intensity, and the number of protestors reached 5000. According to certain media outlets, a few female students committed suicide in the University’s dormitories. However, during the press conference, police officials rejected such reports, claiming that the girls were carried into an ambulance due to a medical problem. Meanwhile, the Himachal Police in Shimla began hunting for the accused youngsters Sunny Mehta and Rankaj Verma. Sunny was apprehended in Dhali, Shimla, and Rankaj was apprehended in Rohru, Shimla. Following their arrest, the youngsters were turned over to the Punjab Police for further investigation. In response to the arrest, Himachal Pradesh’s DGP stated, “Punjab Police arrived at Shimla’s PS Rohru. Sunny Mehta, the accused, has been turned over to them. There is no tolerance for crime against women. If any additional proof comes our way, we will act in accordance with the law.”
While discussing the issue, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jairam Thakur stated, “I have directed that police officers collaborate with the Punjab Police. According to the information we have, the child who made the videos viral is from Himachal. He will face legal consequences.” According to the Mohali Police, during his interrogation, Rankaj stated that his photo had been exploited and that the WhatsApp account shown in the video was a forgery. When Sunny Mehta was questioned, he stated that he did not make any viral videos. The three accused were later brought before the Kharar Court in Mohali, Punjab, and were placed on police remand for seven days. A Special Investigation Team of three women was constituted to look into the incident. Initially, two recordings were discovered on the accused girl’s phone: one of her own and one of another girl whose face was obscured. The university then suspended two wardens, and other wardens were replaced overnight. The university has declared holidays from September 19 through September 24, 2022. Earlier, Dr. RS Bawa, the university’s pro-chancellor, stated, “The rumour that 60 problematic MMS in students had been detected is completely false. According to our investigation, there is only one video of the accused herself. She has never tape-recorded anyone else.”
