Patna: Four youths, including a minor, were arrested in Bihar’s Jehanabad district in connection with the alleged molestation of a girl, after a video of the incident went viral on social media, a top police official said on Monday.
Inspector General of Police, Patna Zone, N H Khan, told reporters here that the police had received information late on Saturday night about the horrifying video in which some youths were seen molesting the girl, believed to be a minor, who kept crying for help.
“A motorcycle was spotted in the clip. Its number was noted down and with its help the police got the vital clue that the incident had taken place in Jehanabad,” he said.
An FIR was lodged at Town Police Station of Jehanabad yesterday under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the POCSO Act by Additional Sub Inspector S S Singh. The motorcycle, whose owner was absconding, was seized, he said.
A Special Investigation Team, comprising the superintendent of police of Jehanabad and an additional superintendent of police of Patna was set up and raids were conducted in Patna, Gaya and Jehanabad on the basis of the information obtained by the police, Khan said.
He said Amar Kumar, Deepak Kumar and Sunil Kumar – all aged 18 years – and a juvenile have so far been arrested.
All of them belonged to Bharathua village under Kako Police Station area of Jehanabad.
Two of them were seen in the video clip while the other two were involved in shooting the video.
The police said during investigation, the youths confessed to their involvement and they were joined by 4-5 other youths, who would be nabbed soon.
The mobile phone, on which the video had been shot, was been recovered from Amar Kumar, the IGP said.
The IGP said that care would be taken to keep the girl’s identity secret, in keeping with provisions of the POCSO Act, and the cyber cell of the police has been directed to keep a watch and prevent misuse of the video clip by those intending “to create a sensation or derive political mileage”.
Meanwhile, police sources said the girl, who is a Dalit and appears to be in her teens, was identified this evening. She was sent for medical tests to ascertain her age and find out the nature of injuries sustained by her.
The girl is likely to be produced before a court in Jehanabad on Tuesday, the source said.
