PATNA: Police in Bihar’s Nalanda district on Thursday arrested eight individuals, including two main accused—Ashok Yadav and Matlu Mahto--in connection with molestation and attempted rape of a 20-year-old married woman in full public view on March 26.
Police took action after a video of the incident went viral on social media.
An FIR was lodged at Noorsarai police station on March 27. Initially two suspects were picked up for interrogation. Their interrogation led to the arrest of six other accused in the case.
Besides Ashok and Matloo, the six others have been identified as Sachin, Ranjan, Dasarath, Shailesh, Doman and Sonu. They have been booked under sections 74, 75 and 76 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and relevant sections of IT Act.
Superintendent of police (SP), Nalanda, Bharat Soni said that the case would be put on speedy trial.
“I have directed the investigating officer to submit chargesheet against the arrested accused at the earliest and list the case for speedy trial,” he said.
Sub-divisional police officer (SDPO), Sanjay Kumar Jaiswal said that all the arrested accused were produced in the court, which remanded them in judicial custody for two weeks. The woman, in her complaint, had named three persons as accused, he added.
Further investigation revealed that the woman was molested by accused in full public view on suspicion of having an extra-marital affair with a local shopkeeper. The incident took place when the woman was on way to the shop from her home on March 26 evening.
SDPO said that the police recovered the viral video which was made by one of the accused.
“Apart from the named accused, whosoever is involved in the case will face action as per the law,” he told this reporter over the phone on Thursday.
The woman was allegedly accosted by some men when she was returning home from a grocery shop. When the woman resisted and raised an alarm, the accused allegedly molested her, pinned her down on the ground, and attempted to gang rape her.
In her complaint, she said that her clothes were torn by the accused, who filmed the entire incident without consent, and later circulated the video on social media with the intent to humiliate her.
Taking a serious note of the incident, the police launched an investigation.
A special team (SIT) was formed under the leadership of sub-divisional police officer Sanjay Kumar Jaiswal. The SIT immediately arrested two accused, Ashok Yadav and Matlu Mahto alias Navneet Kumar Narottam and sent them to judicial custody.
Their accomplice, Ravikant Kumar, is still evading arrest. Police teams are conducting continuous raids to apprehend him.
The victim resides in the village with her in-laws, while her husband works in Maharashtra.