CCTV camera

Bombay

Cardinal Oswald Gracias

Mahim

Vellankini Tower

Fr Simon Borges, parish priest of St Michael’s Church, says security feature was added after a spate of thefts, vows to remove it if it’s making women uncomfortable.Parishioners at one of Mumbai’s oldest churches are furious at installation of ainside women’s washroom.They have sent a missive to the archbishop of, asking what the people in charge of St Michael’s Church inare trying to achieve by recording women.“Why are our priests of St Michael’s parish being more ridiculous by the day?... Just what are they expecting to capture on camera? Women with their pants down or their sarees up? Are they missing out on something?” Karen C D’Souza, vice-president of Association of Concerned Catholics, has said in the letter.“This is total exposure for women… Please tell our priests to wake up and be sensitive to us ladies. We don’t want men crowding around hoping to see some live porn.”The letter adds that the church might as well shut the washroom since women cannot use it with a camera pointed at them. The church, built by the Portuguese in 1534, said the camera was installed for female parishioners’ safety and to prevent thefts. But it offered to remove the device if it was making women uncomfortable.D’Souza said if the parish was worried about its bathroom fittings being stolen, it should deploy security guards within 50 metres of the washroom.Becky D’Souza, who lives in Our Lady ofin Mahim and visits the church regularly, also found the decision to fix a camera baffling. “It’s fine to have cameras in the corridor. But inside? It’s a terrible feeling to know someone is watching you constantly while you are inside the washroom,” she said. “We don’t know the intention behind it, but it is wrong. It is an infringement of privacy.”Andheri resident Lyn Fernandes stops by the church every day before heading to her Lower Parel office. She was among the first women who remonstrated about the washroom surveillance. “We feel insecure. We don’t know who is monitoring the camera,” she said.Advocate Joseph Sodder, who has also raised the issue with the Archdiocese of Bombay, said the installation amounted to outraging the modesty of women. “The footage is reviewed by men. We intend to lodge a complaint against the church and seizure of the footage,” he said.Father Simon Borges, parish priest of St Michael’s Church, told Mirror a series of thefts prompted the security feature. “It was installed sometime back to prevent thefts. Women leave the bags outside, near the basin, before entering the toilet. We did that (install the camera) to protect the ladies,” he said.“There were no complaints (until now). If it is causing a misunderstanding and it is making them uncomfortable, we will remove it.”