Kochi: Thrikkakara police on Thursday night took into custody a second-year undergraduate student of Bharata Mata College accused of morphing the photographs of female classmates and teachers into sexually explicit visuals.

According to the police, the student is being detained and questioned, but his formal arrest has not yet been recorded. “The arrest would be formally recorded later in the night after completing the interrogation, recording detailed statements and conducting a forensic examination of his digital devices and the online channels allegedly used to circulate the material,” said police sources.

The detention came amid intense protests on the college campus on Thursday, with students staging a sit-in outside the college office and demanding stringent legal action against the accused. The police were deployed in strength to control the situation and pacify the agitated students.

Protesting students alleged that the college management initially delayed informing the police and allowed the accused to leave the campus with his family before intimating the authorities. They also alleged that more students were involved in sharing the explicit content through various messaging networks and demanded action.

The college authorities, however, said they could not confirm claims that morphed material was found on the devices of other students and maintained that further action in the matter would be determined by the police investigation.

The development comes a day after Thrikkakara Police registered a case against the student under Section 79 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (acts intended to insult the modesty of a woman) Section 67 of the Information Technology Act (publication or transmission of obscene material in electronic form) and Section 119(1)(b) of the Kerala Police Act (violation of personal privacy).

According to the college authorities, the alleged misuse of photographs came to light after a student noticed the altered visuals online and alerted a faculty member. Following an internal review, the management moved to expel the student from the institution.

The college confiscated the student’s mobile phone and handed it over to the police. Meanwhile, the police have begun a technical examination of the seized phone as part of the probe.

The police said an initial examination did not immediately reveal photographs belonging to the specific students during the preliminary scrutiny of the device. Investigators are now recording statements from the affected parties to establish the evidentiary basis of the allegations.

The police are also examining the digital devices and online channels involved to determine how the allegedly morphed material was created and circulated.