Smriti Irani caught in Goa Fabindia trial room, four held after she files FIR in Goa Fabindia trial room

A case was registered against a Goa outlet of the popular clothing chain FabIndia on Friday after Union Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani said a CCTV camera was pointed towards the changing room she used.Police detained three staff members for questioning and have sealed the store. A case has been registered under Sections 354 C (voyeurism) and 509 (insulting the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code against employees who were monitoring the cameras. Police seized the camera.Ms. Irani, on a two-day holiday to Goa with her family, raised an alarm on noticing the camera. She called BJP MLA in Calangute, Michael Lobo, who reached the outlet along with the police. He lodged a complaint on her behalf.Mr. Lobo said the camera was located just above a beam touching the trial room. “The trial room has wooden ventilators in the shape of cubes and squares for air conditioning through which the camera had a clear view inside,” he told

Will cooperate with police: FabIndia

Mr. Lobo said he checked the camera at FabIndia store in Goa after Union Human Resource Minister Smriti Irani complained. “It was indeed recording the scene inside the trial room. We rolled the footage 20 minutes back… there was objectionable footage of people changing,” Mr. Lobo said.FabIndia managing director William Bissel said the cameras did not focus on the trial room. In a clarification posted on its Facebook page, FabIndia said it was “deeply concerned and shocked at this allegation.” The outlet was in the “process of investigating this internally and will be cooperating fully with the police. Senior officials of the company are on their way to Goa and will be present during the investigation,” it said.Mr. Lobo said the larger concern now was to check if the culprits were circulating the footage outside.

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The youngest person on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet, Smriti Irani is a firebrand whose political career began with her joining the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) in 2003. The former TV bahu has had an eventful career path dotted with equal amounts of failure and success. Recently appointed as the Minister for Human Resource Development, here’s a look at 18 lesser known facts about the 38-year-old Smriti Irani.

 

Cabinet Minister Smriti Irani after taking an oath at the presidential palace in New Delhi.1. As the youngest person in Modi’s Council of Ministers, Smriti handles the crucial HRD portfolio that covers Education. The former TV actress had potshots taken at her by Congress leader Ajay Maken for the same as she dropped out of Holy Child Auxilium School after Class XI. But we strongly believe a degree isn’t everything!

 

Smriti Irani tweeted about the atrocious conditions in which girls in Amethi study.

2. Smriti comes from a lower middle class family. Her Punjabi-Maharashtrian father and Bengali-Assamese mother’s only dream for Smriti was for her to get married to a good boy. Well, clearly the BJP politician had bigger things on her mind.

 

3. The eldest of three sisters, Smriti worked to support her family and ease the load off her parents from a very early age. After Class X, she apparently earned Rs.200 for promoting a beauty product.

 

Smriti Irani in her younger days

 

4. She wanted to become a journalist at one point but gave up on that dream on being rejected after an interview by a journo. Well, good for her. She now has jounalists making a bee line for her instead 🙂

 

A journalist interviews Smriti Irani 

 

5. Married to a Parsi Zubin Irani with two kids Zohr and Zoish, Smriti also has a stepdaughter Shanelle from Zubin’s previous marriage to coordinator and former beauty contestant Mona Irani.

 

Smriti Irani and husband Zubin Irani at the 6th Annual Indian Television Awards

 

6. Zubin and Smriti were childhood friends. He used to pull her ponytails, and tease her when she was young. Well, some things never change. In an interview, Smriti confessed that Zubin still loves to tease her and pull her hair, but all inside the four walls!

 

7. Before attaining stardom, Smriti worked a job at McDonald’s Bandra, where she cleared tables and cleaned floors. Talk about a rise to the top!

 

8. In 1998, Smriti Irani took part in the Femina Miss India beauty pageant, for which she borrowed Rs.1 lakh from her dad promising to repay it regardless of the outcome of the contest.

 

Smriti Irani (extreme right) during the Femina Miss India contest in 1998

 

9. Her life changed for the better when she was called to replace actress Neelam Kothari as the host of an episode of “Ooh La La La”. That’s when Ekta Kapoor spotted her.

 

10. Popularly known as TV’s favourite bahu, Smriti got her big break as Tulsi Virani in Ekta Kapoor’s Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi in mid-2000. Sadly she had a fallout with Ekta and was replaced by Gautami Kapoor in 2007.

 

Smriti Irani as Tulsi Virani in Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi

 

11. She produced TV shows Virrudh and Thodi Si Zameen Thoda Sa Aasmaan under her banner Ugraya Entertainment.

 

12. In 2003, Smriti plunged into politics and joined the BJP. Her ties with the party go back a long way. Apparently her grandfather was a swayamsevak and her mother a BJP booth activist.

 

13. In 2010, Smriti was appointed as the National Secretary of the BJP and All India President of the BJP’s women’s wing, BJP Mahila Morcha.

 

Sushma Swaraj (C) with Smriti Irani, Najma Heptulla (R) and other Members of Parliament shouting slogans of protest against the heinous Delhi gangrape

 

14. While other politicians made shockingly insensitive comments following the many rape cases in India, Smriti advocated capital punishment for rapists.

 

15. Smriti and Modi were not always the on the best terms with each other. In fact, in December 2004, Irani threatened to fast unto death Narendra Modi resigned from his position as Gujarat Chief Minster and blamed him for BJP’s electoral losses. However, she later relented after being threatened by BJP’s central leadership. Guess much water has flowed under the bridge and all is good between the now PM and HRD minister.

 

Smriti Irani campaigns for Narendra Modi

 

16. In the 2014 general elections, Smriti wore orange saris to every one of her rallies in keeping with the BJP saffron colour.

 

Smriti Irani in her signature orange saris during the 2014 general elections

 

17. Contesting from Amethi, she gave Rahul Gandhi the jitters on counting day. Though she lost, she was tough competition for the Congress Vice-president.

 

Smriti Irani campaigning in Amethi

 

18. There are so many people who leave home to pursue their dreams but not many are successful. That’s why Smriti considers her life a work of God and is a very god-fearing and spiritual person.