Another harassment video surfaces from Bihar’s Banka, third incident in 7 days

According to the FIR recorded by Bounsi police station SHO Pankaj Kumar Jha on September 22, police received the video through WhatsApp from the social media cell at around 2.45 pm. After making a station diary entry, Jha reached Mandar Hill with a team around 3 pm to verify the footage and establish the location.

The FIR states that six to seven unidentified persons could be seen engaging in “obscene behaviour and obscene acts” with the girl. Local shopkeepers were questioned during the verification.

A case was subsequently registered at Bounsi police station under Sections 74, 75, 76 and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Sections 66E and 67A of the Information Technology Act, 2000.

“The girl visited Mandar Hill with two friends on June 3. Three suspects have been identified. They allegedly caught hold of her hand, behaved indecently, abused and threatened her,” an official said.

According to the officer, one of the accused allegedly made one of the girl’s friends transfer Rs 1,500 through an online transaction before allowing the girl and her companions to leave.

The officer said police were conducting raids to arrest the three accused and that their arrest was expected soon.

The development comes amid two other cases in Bihar in which videos of alleged harassment of girls have circulated online. In Samastipur, a video that surfaced on September 23 showed a girl being allegedly pulled by her hand and hair and subjected to abusive remarks on a bypass road. Police said the incident appeared to have occurred about a week earlier. Four accused — Vikas Kumar, Rahul Kumar, Ram Babu Sahni and Awadhesh Paswan — were arrested within six hours of the case coming to police notice, according to Samastipur SP Arvind Pratap Singh.

In Jamui, a video showing youths surrounding two teenage students in a hilly area had surfaced days earlier. Police subsequently apprehended three juveniles and arrested two adults identified as Nandan Yadav and Hareram Yadav.

RJD national working president and Bihar Assembly Leader of the Opposition Tejashwi Yadav, while posting a blurred and muted version of the Banka video on X, alleged that the latest incident showed “exploitation, indecent behaviour and assault” of a minor girl at the historic tourist site. He wrote that “law and order in Bihar is dead” and questioned Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary over the government’s handling of the recent cases.