Eight accused arrested in Nalanda district after woman molested, dragged in public

As the incident has created nationwide outrage, the Bihar police headquarters asked the investigating officers to complete the probe swiftly.

Eight people have been arrested for the public molestation of a married woman in Bihar’s Nalanda district. The incident, which reportedly took place on March 26, gained public attention after a video went viral, showing several men dragging the woman on the road, groping her, and allegedly tearing her clothes and attempting to rape her.

As the incident has created nationwide outrage, the Bihar police headquarters (PHQ) asked the investigating officers to complete the probe swiftly and file the charge sheet.

As the incident has created nationwide outrage, the Bihar police headquarters (PHQ) asked the investigating officers to complete the probe swiftly and file the charge sheet.

Of those arrested, two have been identified as Ashok Yadav and Matlu Mahto alias Navneet Kumar Narottam who were allegedly filmed groping the woman in the viral video.

The incident, which took place in the area under the Noorsarai police station was triggered by the suspicion that the woman was having an extramarital affair. She is reportedly a mother of three children and her husband works in Nashik, Maharashtra.

According to some locals, villagers allegedly caught her with a man while her husband was away. They said that the villagers even tried to forcibly marry her to this man.

However, the woman told the police that she was on her way home from a grocery shop when some men caught her and started misbehaving with her. In her statement to the police, she said that while some men were trying to molest her, others kept inciting them.

The police identified the accused from the video footage and arrested eight of them. The police are also searching for others.

The ADG (weaker section) Amit Kumar Jain, asked the Nalanda SP to record the woman’s statement before the judicial magistrate under Section 183 of the BNSS and get her medically examined. The ADG also directed the Nalanda SP to attach the properties of those absconding in the case.

An FIR has been registered against three named and a dozen unknown persons under sections 74/75/76/115/125 and 3(5) of the BNS.

The police are also ensuring that the family does not receive any threats.

Meanwhile, the Opposition parties attacked the ruling NDA government for crimes against women despite the state government’s tall claims about their security.

Leader of the Opposition Tejashwi Yadav said, “It was a gang rape attempt. Those who misbehaved with the woman tore off her clothes. This presents a scary picture of the collapsed law and order in Bihar.”