‘Found out after video went viral’: Father of Jamui assault survivor says ‘arrest is not enough’

“I will be happy only when my daughter gets justice. I hope they are encountered by police. Arrest is not enough,” said Deepak Kumar, whose Class 10 daughter was harassed and assaulted by a group of men in Bihar’s Jamui district on September 19.

A key accused in the case, Nandan Yadav, was shot in the leg by the police on September 22 and arrested, taking the total number of arrests to six. According to The Times of India, three of the accused are adults, while the other three are minors. 

Videos of the assault, which showed the girl and a male friend being surrounded, chased, and harassed for roughly an hour, went viral on social media, prompting outrage and the police investigation. 

Jamui is the Lok Sabha constituency under which Tarapur, the assembly seat represented by Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary, falls and Opposition leaders have raised serious concerns about the state of law and order there.

Jamui Police have also identified 120 URLs carrying the video and say they are taking steps to stop its circulation.

What happened on September 19

At around 5 pm on September 19, the Class 10 girl left her home in Jamui for her tuition class, expecting to return after her evening lessons. Instead, according to her father, she and her friend went out for ice cream during a break between classes, where some men on two bikes allegedly began disturbing her and behaving inappropriately.

“My daughter is quite disturbed after this incident. She told us about it a day after it happened when the video started going viral on the internet,” Kumar told Newslaundry.

The teenage girl and her male friend, both Class 10 students, were allegedly stopped by the group, surrounded and subjected to harassment for around an hour, making repeated attempts to escape. Yadav allegedly chased and grabbed the girl from behind, later lifting her onto his lap; her friend intervened and freed her, leading to a scuffle, though the accused continued trying to stop the two from leaving. The videos, which surfaced on social media soon after, prompted Jamui Police to take cognisance and begin an investigation.

According to Jamui Superintendent of Police Vishwajeet Dayal, Yadav, 25, is now in police custody, with more arrests likely once police complete his interrogation. “After we interrogate Yadav, more people will be identified,” said Dayal. The accused have been charged under Sections 74 (outraging a woman’s modesty), 76 (assault), and 3(5) (common intention) of the BNS, as well as Sections 8 and 12 of the POCSO Act, which deal with punishment for sexual assault (non-penetrative) and sexual harassment against a child. 

Police are also looking into Yadav’s background and criminal history. So far, Dayal said no evidence had emerged that Yadav was a habitual offender, though police were checking his records with other stations.

Police identify 120 URLs containing video

Dayal said police had identified 120 URLs carrying the video, which allegedly compromised the girl’s identity. He said the Cyber Police was acting against profiles that had shared or circulated the material, and that a few people had been detained in connection with the matter.

In a social media statement, Jamui Police said even a small share of the video could have an adverse impact on the victim’s privacy and mental health, and that protecting her identity was a collective responsibility. Revealing a minor’s identity or circulating such content, the police warned, could create “social and legal chaos” and constitutes a cognisable offence under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), IT Act, Juvenile Justice Act and POCSO Act, with provisions for strict punishment.

“Please be sensitive. Do not forward the video,” the police said, appealing to people not to circulate the footage and reiterating that Jamui Police remained ready to assist with citizens’ security.

‘We want proper action’

“Some people on two bikes started disturbing and doing inappropriate things with my daughter. I think the boys did not like that a girl was with a boy in the evening,” Kumar said. His daughter is in Class 10, he added, and the boys were not known to the family but were from Jamui itself. He also alleged that two similar incidents had taken place in Jamui in the past; Dayal confirmed one such case, saying police had filed a chargesheet and the matter was on trial.

Kumar added that the school had cooperated with the family and had not targeted his daughter after the incident. “The school is cooperating with us and not targeting my daughter so far. The police have been cooperative with us, but we want proper action against these boys who did this to my daughter,” he said.

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