More arrests are likely in the NEET examination hall frisking row, as the women arrested for forcing girls to remove their innerwear told the police that they did so on the instructions of their superiors. Meanwhile, the kin of the arrested staged a protest alleging the accused were being made scapegoats.
In the case, the police arrested five women so far, of which three of them were staff of a private agency enlisted for the usual frisking before entry to the examination hall. The other two were the cleaning staff of the examination centre: Mar Thoma Institute of Information and Technology at Ayur near Kottarakkara in the suburbs of Kollam.
Sources in the police said that based on the statements by the arrested, others from the private agency recruited for security check would be also quizzed, and could also be arraigned in the case. The girls who complained about the incident identified the five women as those engaged in frisking the former. Consequently, the five were arrested.
The father of one of the arrested women told the media that he was contacted by a representative of the private agency, who told him they needed four men and four women for the safety check / frisking at the examination, He said he sent his daughter because the remuneration offered was Rs 500. The father said the women were acting as per the instructions given to them.
One of two arrested cleaning staff said she had only offered the girls the institute’s restrooms as a place to remove their innerwear.
Relatives of the arrested women, however, staged a protest in front of the Chadayamangalam police station on Wednesday with placards alleging that the real culprits were being protected and the women were scapegoats, as they were only following instructions.