PATNA: Three suspects have been taken into custody after videos purportedly showing two minor students being harassed in Bihar’s Jamui district went viral on social media on Monday. The incident took place on September 19.
State Women’s Commission Chairperson Apsara Mishra said a detailed report had been sought from the district administration on the incident, which has triggered criticism of the BJP-led government over the safety of women and girls.
Police took suo motu cognisance of the videos, identified the victims and registered an FIR.
Jamui District Magistrate Naveen said the incident took place on the evening of September 19 under Jamui Sadar police station limits. He said police had not initially received any complaint and later launched an investigation based on material available on social media.
The accused have been identified and action is being taken against them, the District Magistrate said. “Police officials have launched a hunt to arrest the perpetrators of crime,” he told the media.
Jamui SP Bishwajit Dayal said the video appeared to show two minors being subjected to inappropriate behaviour. Their statements were subsequently recorded. The two minors had gone to the area after attending coaching classes to have their photographs taken when the incident allegedly occurred, he said.
He said a Special Investigation Team (SIT), headed by a woman officer, was conducting raids to arrest all the culprits.
"An SIT headed by Sub-Divisional Police Officer Deepti Monali has been set up. The accused have not been named by the victims in the FIR lodged at Jamui police station, but we have identified around seven perpetrators with the help of the clip. Three persons have been arrested, and raids are being conducted to nab the others," Dayal said.
The FIR has been lodged under the POCSO Act and relevant sections of the BNS, and steps have been initiated for the "takedown of the video", the SP said.
According to preliminary information, the two Class 10 students and residents of Jamui town had gone to Madwa hillock on a motorbike after attending coaching classes on September 19.
While returning, some youths allegedly stopped them on the way and harassed them for a considerable period. The incident was reportedly filmed, and the victims were allegedly threatened that the video would be uploaded on social media.
The two videos purportedly linked to the incident prompted police to take cognisance of the matter. The videos allegedly show a group of men surrounding the girl and subjecting her to harassment and inappropriate behaviour.
The State Women’s Commission has also taken cognisance of the matter and sought a detailed report from the SP concerned.
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi reacted to the incident and said, “The video from Jamui was very disturbing”.
He said a Class 10 boy and girl were allegedly forcibly stopped on the road, harassed and humiliated, and that the girl was subjected to harassment.
“Who gave these people the right to behave in such a manner? This is not ‘culture’; this is patriarchy. It is the mindset that any man has control over a girl’s body, her movement and her choices. When control is treated as culture and ‘blind followers’ normalise such thinking, the mob begins to believe that it is the law. Bihar government must answer why a girl is not safe on the state’s roads at 7 pm,” he asked.
Taking to microblogging platform X, Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge said a shameful harassment occurred against a female student in Bihar's Jamui, and before that, a 17-year-old girl was gang-raped and murdered in Delhi.
He said such incidents expose the lies and hypocrisy of the BJP's "Nari Shakti Vandan" and "Beti Bachao" narratives.
"Our demand is clear: harshest punishment for the culprits and accountability from the state governments," Kharge said.
(With inputs from PTI)