On Saturday 18th June, during the Summer Ball, an at around 3pm in the Central Library, a female Imperial student, who has asked to remain anonymous, was followed into the 2nd floor toilets by another person who then attempted to take pictures of her by sliding their mobile phone underneath the stall.

The female student told Felix that, “this person positioned herself/himself in the cubicle to me and proceeded to take a succession of photos of me with a mobile phone by sliding their hand from underneath the partition and then again from underneath the door before fleeing.”

After the initial shock of the incident, the female student informed the security guard on duty, who had spotted a tall, slim man of Oriental descent taking pictures of him on a mobile just moments before she had arrived.

Even though the library was virtually empty, the student remembered that there was also another female student standing outside the toilets by the water fountain at the time of the incident. She described her as “around 5 foot 2-3ish, with long brown hair and wearing colourful shoes.”

The student said that “when I first spoke to campus security, they seemed very taken aback at the incident, and I guess I could assume that this sort of thing probably had never occurred before.”

She then reported the incident to Sherfield security in the hope that they would be able to examine CCTV security but she felt that the female supervisor showed a “complete lack of sensitivity and rudeness.” However, security has been through the CCTV footage of the reception but could not come across an Oriental male holding a mobile phone in the reception area. The Head of Security informed Felix that there are no CCTV cameras in the area of the bathroom.

They believe that finding the exact identity of the person will be difficult due to lack of description from the library security guard and the fact that the female student only caught a glimpse of hand taking the picture. They assured Felix that they are doing all they can to catch the offender.

However, the female student was unhappy with the way her case has been dealt with. “For the amount of tuition fees Imperial charges, this sort of appalling level of service provided for the safety of its students is, I feel, utterly unacceptable,” she said. Even though security had immediately contacted the police and advised the student to do the same, she still felt that she had to take the responsibility of reporting the incident to the Chelsea Police station herself, where she then says she waited for four and a half hours to talk to an officer. An officer has been assigned to the case and a report is going to be filed.

As this incident occurred during the exam period, the female student was “pretty shaken” as it has significantly affected her revision. She said that her department was “fairly sympathetic” but felt that they weren’t “particularly supportive”. The department stated, “The regrettable incident described has been noted by the relevant Personal Tutor, the Senior Tutor and the Examinations Officer and placed on file. The incident will be discussed by a sub-board of the Board Examiners consisting of the Senior Tutor, the Director of Undergraduate Studies and the Chairman of the Board of Examiners in July and then again at final moderation.”

The female student would like to warn other females to be vigilant about “such a depraved person roaming around College.”