Third Harassment Video Surfaces in Bihar as Banka Police Launch Probe

A third video showing the alleged harassment of a girl in Bihar has surfaced within a week, prompting a police investigation in Banka district. The video came to the notice of police on September 22 and purportedly shows a group of youths behaving indecently with a girl and assaulting her at the historic Mandar Hill tourist site. The footage shows two of the girl's friends being grabbed by their T-shirt collars, with one suspect holding a slipper and another a stick. An officer stated that the incident actually took place on June 3, much before recent cases in Jamui and Samastipur, but only came to light now. According to the FIR recorded by Bounsi police station SHO Pankaj Kumar Jha, police received the video through WhatsApp from the social media cell at 2.45 pm on September 22. After making a station diary entry, Jha reached Mandar Hill to verify the footage. The FIR notes that six to seven unidentified persons engaged in obscene acts with the girl, and local shopkeepers were questioned during verification. A case was registered at Bounsi police station under Sections 74, 75, 76, and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, alongside Sections 66E and 67A of the Information Technology Act. Officials stated that three suspects have been identified after the girl visited the tourist spot with two friends. The suspects allegedly caught her hand, behaved indecently, abused and threatened her. One of the accused also allegedly forced one of the friends to transfer 1,500 rupees through an online transaction before letting them leave. Police are conducting raids and expect to arrest the three accused soon. This development follows two similar cases in Bihar. In Samastipur, a video surfaced on September 23 showing a girl being pulled by her hand and hair on a bypass road. Samastipur SP Arvind Pratap Singh stated that four accused, named Vikas Kumar, Rahul Kumar, Ram Babu Sahni, and Awadhesh Paswan, were arrested within six hours. In Jamui, another video showed youths surrounding two teenage students in a hilly area, leading to the apprehension of three juveniles and the arrest of two adults named Nandan Yadav and Hareram Yadav. RJD national working president and Leader of the Opposition Tejashwi Yadav posted a blurred version of the Banka video on X, alleging the exploitation of a minor girl, claiming law and order in Bihar is dead, and questioning Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary.