Bihar: Minor molested in Samastipur, 4 arrested after video goes viral
Patna: Police in Bihar’s Samastipur district have arrested four people after a video purportedly showing the alleged molestation of a minor girl in the Karpurigram police station area went viral on social media.
The incident reportedly took place on a road near the Jagatsinghpur embankment under the jurisdiction of Karpurigram police station.
After police officials came across the video through social media monitoring, a team was formed to identify those involved in the incident.
Samastipur Superintendent of Police Arvind Pratap said at a press conference that all four accused were arrested within approximately six hours of the police learning about the incident.
According to the SP, the incident took place about a week ago, with questioning of the accused establishing that it occurred on September 15.
He added that one of the arrested accused had previously been jailed in connection with an alcohol-related case.
Police also recovered a copy of the video from the mobile phone of one of the accused. During interrogation, the accused allegedly told police that he had sent the video to another person, following which it was further circulated and eventually went viral on social media.
The police seized the mobile phone and included it in the seizure list as part of the investigation.
SP Arvind Pratap said that, prima facie, the girl seen in the video appears to be a minor. He appealed to media organisations and social media users not to share the video, photographs, posts or any other material that could reveal her identity or cause further social or psychological harm.
Police have assured that strict legal action will be taken against those found responsible.
The video shows several youths surrounding and allegedly harassing the girl on a public road. She can be seen attempting to leave and asking the youths to let her go. Another person present at the scene appears to have recorded the incident.
Police are continuing their investigation, including into how the video was recorded and subsequently circulated on social media.
With IANS inputs