The Jamui incident, captured on video and being investigated under the POCSO Act, has intensified a political row in Bihar after Minister Shravan Kumar said “petty incidents” could not be ruled out while responding to Opposition allegations of deteriorating law and order.
BY PC BUREAU
Patna, September 21: A video from Jamui showing a teenage girl being groped and intimidated on a public road has set off a political storm in Bihar. Police have begun rounding up suspects, but minister Shravan Kumar still described such crimes as “petty” events that occur everywhere.
The Janata Dal (U) minister’s crass comment has triggered widespread outrage, with Opposition leaders questioning how an assault in which a schoolgirl was allegedly groped, lifted and intimidated on a public road could be dismissed in such terms.
The incident has since triggered a political battle over women’s safety, alleged moral policing and the Bihar government’s handling of crime against women and children.
Police said the incident occurred on September 19. The teenagers did not initially approach the police, but investigators traced them after the video went viral, using a vehicle registration number visible in the footage.
READ: Bihar’s Moral Policing Horror: Young Woman Grabbed, Molested on Camera
Girl allegedly groped and lifted
The video shows the Class 10 girl, wearing a white top and dark trousers, standing with her male classmate near a two-wheeler on a public road. Several men then approach and surround the pair.
One man, whose face appears partly covered, comes up behind the girl and allegedly grabs her. He then appears to lift her by placing his hands between her legs as she screams and struggles to free herself.
The group allegedly assaults the boy accompanying her and attempts to separate the teenagers. At one point, the girl is seen pleading with folded hands as the men continue to confront the pair.
The teenagers eventually manage to get away.
A longer version of the video shows the couple with their scooter before the confrontation begins. The footage does not, however, establish everything that happened before the recording started or conclusively establish why the group confronted them.
Three detained, POCSO case registered
Jamui Superintendent of Police Bishwajeet Dayal said the incident took place on September 19 and that the police began investigating after the video surfaced.
According to the SP, neither teenager had initially filed a complaint. Police subsequently identified and traced them with the help of the registration number visible on the vehicle in the video.
Three persons, including minors, have been detained, police said.
Cases have been registered under provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the Juvenile Justice Act. A special investigation team has been formed and raids are being conducted to trace other suspects allegedly involved in the incident.
Police are also examining the footage and gathering evidence to establish the individual roles of those present.
‘Petty incidents’ remark fuels political row
The political controversy intensified after minister Shravan Kumar responded to RJD allegations that Bihar had returned to “Jungle Raj”.
Kumar said incidents of crime could not be denied but characterised such offences as “petty” incidents, adding that crime had not been eliminated anywhere in the world. He also promised that the Jamui case would be thoroughly investigated and that strict action would be taken against those responsible.
The remark drew sharp criticism from Opposition leaders, who argued that the treatment of a minor in the video could not be brushed aside as an ordinary or insignificant offence.
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav called the episode shameful and questioned the government’s response. He referred to earlier claims that women could move freely at night and said the incident raised questions about the safety of girls and women in Bihar at all hours.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also condemned the incident. Referring to the footage, he said two Class 10 students had been stopped, harassed and humiliated, while the girl was allegedly groped and dragged despite pleading to be released.
Gandhi argued that treating such behaviour as “culture” would amount to allowing men to police a girl’s body, movement and choices, and called for those responsible to face stringent legal action.
Tej Pratap Yadav, national president of the Janshakti Janata Dal, said the state government must take responsibility and demanded an answer from the Chief Minister. He also threatened a hunger strike and wider protests if action was not taken.
MP rejects ‘Jungle Raj’ charge
Jamui MP Arun Bharti of the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) described the incident as a matter of concern but rejected the Opposition’s attempt to use it as evidence of “Jungle Raj”.
Bharti said that once the incident came to the attention of the party and the district administration, efforts were initiated to identify the accused and bring them to justice.
Was it moral policing?
The video has also triggered a debate over moral policing, particularly because the girl appears to be wearing contemporary Western-style clothing and was travelling with a male classmate.
Social media users have alleged that the group confronted the teenagers because of the girl’s clothes and her association with the boy. Police have not publicly established that this was the motive.
What the footage does show is a group of men confronting two teenagers on a public road, with the girl apparently being physically restrained and the boy allegedly assaulted.
Whether the confrontation was motivated by objections to the girl’s clothing, her presence with a male friend, a personal dispute or some other reason remains to be established.
The incident has therefore raised a broader question: can private individuals take it upon themselves to stop, intimidate, physically restrain or punish a girl because they disapprove of what she is wearing or whom she is with?
For the investigators, the immediate task is to establish the complete sequence of events, identify everyone involved and determine their individual roles.
For Bihar’s political leadership, the controversy has moved beyond the criminal investigation after the minister’s “petty incidents” remark put the government’s language on crime and women’s safety under scrutiny.
