Three youths were detained after a video circulating on social media allegedly showed a young woman being harassed and assaulted at Mandar Hill in Bihar’s Banka district, police said on Friday. The incident, which reportedly took place months ago but surfaced on social media recently, is the third such case that has brought Bihar’s law and order in the spotlight within a week.
Police registered a case at Bounsi police station after receiving the video via WhatsApp on September 22. The Opposition targeted the BJP-led state government over law-and-order concerns. NDA ally and Union minister Chirag Paswan also called the recent series of incidents a “grave concern and truly shameful”.
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Woman harassed, money taken from her account at Bihar tourist site
The FIR says that the woman had gone to Mandar Hill with two friends when three youths allegedly abused and threatened them. They also allegedly behaved indecently with her, news agency PTI reported.
The video shows several youths allegedly behaving indecently with the woman and hitting her with a slipper. One of the youths is also seen threatening her.
Police said one of the accused allegedly forced ₹1,500 to be transferred online from her account before letting them go.
Banka Superintendent of Police Amitesh Kumar told news agency ANI that the video was brought to the attention of the Bounsi Station House Officer (SHO) on September 22. Police then began efforts to identify the people seen in the footage and gathered information about three youths by Thursday night, he said.
“Preliminary investigations revealed that the youths assaulted the victim and also took ₹1,500 from her account via PhonePe. Acting on the matter, the police have detained the three youths, and they are currently being interrogated,” he said.
The SP said all three accused seen in the video are from the Barahat police station area. Police have detained the three youths and are questioning them in connection with the case.
RJD targets Bihar government, Chirag Paswan says ‘cannot evade accountability’
The incident has sparked a political slugfest, with RJD leader and leader of the opposition (LoP) in the Bihar assembly Tejashwi Yadav raising questions over the law-and-order situation in the state.
“After incidents in Jamui and Samastipur, a video showing the abuse, indecent behaviour, and assault of a minor girl at the historic tourist site of Mandar Hill in Banka has now gone viral! Law and order in Bihar is virtually dead!” Yadav said in a Facebook post.
He also alleged that the social and political background of the accused persons was influencing the course of justice in Bihar. He sought answers from chief minister Samrat Choudhary over the issue.
The incident comes days after a teenage girl was allegedly harassed in Jamui. In Samastipur, four people were arrested after a purported video showing a girl being harassed emerged online.
Union minister Paswan said the issue could not be dealt with only through arrests or encounters. He also called for action against officials responsible for the areas where such incidents took place.
“Such incidents are happening in our presence. We should be so ashamed that we feel like sinking into the ground,” Paswan said, adding that repeated incidents involving young women could not be ignored.
He also said the government could not “run away from accountability” over the incidents.
With inputs from agencies
