Bihar police have registered FIR’s against 120 social media accounts for allegedly revealing the identity of the minor girl and her friend who were harassed while being filmed by a group of people in Jamui
The video, which went viral on social media and was widely condemned, showed two minors, a girl and a boy, being confronted and harassed by a group who groped and assaulted them.
The police appealed to the public not to share or repost videos of the minor victims revealing their identity. They warned that doing so is punishable under the POCSO Act, The IT Act, the Juvenile Justice Act, and the Penal Code.
"The video involving the minor victim is extremely sensitive. Therefore, do not share or repost this video on social media or any other medium. Also, do not reveal the identity of the minor. According to the police, doing so is a punishable offense under the POCSO Act, the IT Act, and the Juvenile Justice Act,” Bihar police said in a post on X.
“It is known that under Section 23 of the POCSO Act, revealing the identity of a minor is prohibited. Violation of this carries a provision for imprisonment ranging from 6 months to 1 year, a fine, or both,” a police officer
“Therefore, do not share the face, name, or any such information of any minor victim on social media that could make their identity public,” he added.
About three suspects in the case have been arrested after about seven perpetrators were identified using video analysis. “Although the incident is two days old, no complaint was made before us by the boy or the girl till Sunday. Today, when the video went viral, we traced the victims with the help of the registration number of a vehicle visible in the clip”, Jamui SP Bishwajeet Dayal told reporters.
The appeal comes after a video from Bihar’s Jamui showing a group of men harassing and groping a minor girl who was on her way back from tuition with her male friend went viral on social media.
The two had left their coaching classes in Jamui town on a motorbike and visited a nearby spot to take photographs. They were attacked by a group of men on Saturday evening, questioned and then subjected to assault and molestation.
The incident received backlash. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi called the incident “deeply disturbing” and demanded that the persons identified in the video be prosecuted under the POCSO Act.
