Four arrested after purported video of girl being harassed goes viral in Bihar

Four people were arrested after a video purportedly showing a group behaving indecently with a girl in Samastipur went viral on social media. Police said the incident occurred near a bridge in Jagat Singhpur village and registered an FIR

Samastipur (Bihar): A girl was allegedly harassed in public by a group of people who behaved indecently with her in Bihar’s Samastipur district, following which four accused were arrested, police said on Thursday.

The incident bore a resemblance to cases of molestation reported in Jamui and Darbhanga over the last several days.

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The latest incident came to light on Monday after a video purportedly showing three to four people behaving indecently with the girl went viral on social media. PTI could not independently verify the authenticity of the video.

A statement issued by Samastipur Police on Thursday said, “The video, which went viral on social media, was technically verified, and the incident occurred near a bridge in Jagat Singhpur village. The incident is believed to be about a week old. An FIR was registered under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, POCSO Act and IT Act in connection with the incident.”

“During social media monitoring on Wednesday evening, police noticed a video purportedly showing three to four persons behaving indecently with a girl, who appears to be a minor. As her identity could not be immediately established, police registered a case based on the available facts and swiftly identified and arrested all four accused allegedly involved in the incident,” it said.

Leader of Opposition in the Bihar Assembly Tejashwi Yadav condemned the incident and questioned the law and order situation in the state.

“The public molestation of a minor girl in Samastipur is yet another grim indictment of the law and order situation in BJP-ruled Bihar. Will the shameless minister dismiss this too as a ‘stray incident’?” he said.

“When the chief minister is accused of protecting criminals on the basis of caste, such lawlessness is bound to flourish. Will the ‘caste expert’ CM first check the accused’s caste before acting — or try to suppress the case? And will Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi now find some ‘kinship’ in this case too? Shameful,” Yadav added.