Congress leader and the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on Monday slammed the Bihar government after a disturbing video emerged from the state’s Jamui district showing two minor students allegedly being harassed and manhandled in public. The video shows a group of men surrounding the victim duo, and the minor girl folding her hands as well as pleading with them to let her and her male friend go.
A plethora of outrage erupted after the incident, prompting questions over the safety of females and children in public spaces.
Rahul Gandhi
Rahul Gandhi questions police action
Reacting to the incident, Gandhi said the video seemed to be ‘deeply disturbing’ and accused the men involved of trying to exercise control over the girl’s movements and choices.” In a social media post, Gandhi wrote, “Who gave these men the right to behave like this? This is not a ‘culture’. It is patriarchy: the belief that any man can police a girl’s body, her movement, her choices.”
He further alleged that such behaviour could encourage mobs into believing that they had the authority to act as the law. His post further read, “When control is mistaken for culture, and such attitudes are normalised, mobs start believing they are the law.”
He called for the identification and prosecution of all the accused under the Protection of Children From Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. He also questioned the time taken by police to act, asking why the accused were not behind bars if the incident had unfolded on September 19.
A screengrab of the incident
Furthermore, he asked the Bihar government to explain why a girl was not safe on a public road at around 7 pm.
Jamui police claim to have identified accused
Meanwhile, Jamui’s Superintendent of Police (SP) Vishwajeet Dayal confirmed that the attack unfolded on two minor students who were allegedly misbehaved with. He said, “The incident happened in the Jamui police station area. The accused have been identified. We are taking legal action and the accused will be arrested soon.”
Subsequently, the police said an FIR had been registered against seven persons in connection with the crime, and three accused have been arrested so far. They added that further legal proceedings are being initiated.