Days after a video from Bihar’s Jamui showing a teenage girl being sexually assaulted and her male friend being beaten sparked nationwide outrage, another disturbing video has emerged from the state’s Samastipur district. Four people have been arrested after footage showing a group of men allegedly harassing a teenage girl and a man in broad daylight surfaced online on Wednesday.
The incident reportedly took place near Jagat Singh Bandh Bypass under Karpuri Gram police station, where the girl and her male friend were allegedly taking photographs when the accused approached them. The video shows several men surrounding the girl, allegedly sexually assaulting her, grabbing her by the arms and making obscene remarks and gestures as she struggles to get away.
Samastipur Superintendent of Police Arvind Pratap Singh identified the arrested men as Vikash Kumar Sharma, Rahul Kumar Paswan, Rambabu Sahni and Awadhesh Paswan. Police said they took suo motu cognisance of the incident as the survivor is yet to be identified and traced. An FIR has been registered under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act and the Information Technology Act.
The incident drew criticism from Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Manoj Jha, who questioned the law and order situation in Bihar and hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “I am asking the Prime Minister, what should I call this state by? You decide, Prime Minister. Whatever you say, we will accept it. You go to elections and narrate 20 to 25-year-old fairy tales because someone handed you a written script. Say something at least for once. And stop treating Bihar as merely a voting state,” Jha said.
Samastipur MP Shambhavi Choudhary of the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) also condemned the incident. “The incident of misconduct with one of our sisters in Karpoorigram of Samastipur is extremely condemnable and unfortunate,” she said in a post on X. Choudhary said she learnt about the incident on Wednesday night and had been in contact with the Superintendent of Police and the district administration. “Since then, we have been in constant contact with the Superintendent of Police and the administration, and have spoken about taking swift action in the matter. Based on the video, four accused have been arrested,” she said.
The Samastipur case comes days after another incident in Bihar’s Jamui district triggered widespread outrage. Five people were arrested after a video showed a group of men allegedly sexually assaulting a Class 10 student and assaulting her male friend. The incident took place on September 19, when the two teenagers were returning from Mawara Hill on a two-wheeler.
Police said the group intercepted them under the pretext of “moral policing”, before some of the accused allegedly assaulted the boy and sexually attacked the girl. One of the suspects allegedly recorded the incident on a mobile phone, with the footage later circulating on social media. Jamui SP Biswajeet Dayal said police took suo motu cognisance as neither teenager had initially filed a complaint. The suspects were later traced using the vehicle registration number visible in the video.
