Three persons have been arrested after video footage showing a group of men sexually assaulting and harassing a Class 10 schoolgirl and her male friend went viral in Bihar ’s Jamui district, police said on Monday.
Two others have been identified, and efforts are on to identify the other two. The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) condemned the incident, saying it reflected how women were increasingly feeling unsafe in Bihar. Police said an FIR has been registered under sections 8 (sexual assault) and 12 (sexual harassment) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act and sections 74 (Assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 76 (Assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe) and 3 /5 (common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita at Jamui’s Sadar police station. “The incident took place just 3 km from the Jamui town, and it happened between 6.15 pm and 6.30 pm.
Police said one of the suspects appeared to have recorded the incident on his mobile phone, which later emerged on social media, triggered widespread outrage and led to the arrests. Jamui superintendent of police (SP) Vishwajeet Dayal said the police hadn’t received a formal complaint from the young couple about the incident, but started inquiries after coming across the video clip, in which the boy identifies himself as a Jamui resident. Bihar’s additional director general (law and order) K S Anupam said three of the seven persons involved in the incident have been arrested. She said they were examining where the local police personnel on patrol duty were. Action would be taken against police personnel who were on patrol duty at that time,” she said. “The way the girl was molested and the shameful incident of the couple getting harassed reflect that law and order has taken a nosedive in the state… The government should be accountable, and the police needs to answer why such incidents are taking place,” said RJD senior leader Shakti Singh Yadav.
The victims later told the police that they studied at a local coaching institute and were returning from an outing on Saturday evening on their two-wheeler when they were intercepted by the group.
