Four persons were arrested within six hours after a video allegedly showing indecent behaviour with a young girl circulated widely on social media, Samastipur Superintendent of Police Arbind Pratap Singh said on Thursday.
The incident was reported near an embankment road in Jagat Singhpur village, which falls under the jurisdiction of Karpuri Gram Police Station in Samastipur district.
Singh said the police received information about the video through social media patrolling and local sources. The footage came to his attention at around 10:30 pm, after which officials began identifying the location and those involved.
Police first traced the alleged scene to the embankment road in Jagat Singhpur. Officers also attempted to identify the girl seen in the video, but her identity could not be established at that stage. A preliminary assessment suggested that she was a minor.
A case was registered at Karpuri Gram Police Station on the statement of a police officer. Case No. 117/26 invokes relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act and the Information Technology Act.
All four alleged accused were subsequently identified and arrested. They have been named as Vikas Kumar, Rahul Kumar and Ram Babu Sahni, all residents of Jagat Singhpur village, and Awadhesh Paswan of Bijolia village.
During questioning, police learnt that the incident had taken place around a week earlier, likely on September 15. The video was recovered from the mobile phone of one of the accused and appears to have been forwarded to others before it began circulating among social media users after 9:00 pm the previous night.
The arrests came days after an alleged assault involving a Class 10 girl in Bihar’s Jamui district raised concerns over the safety of women across the state. Police said further investigation into the Samastipur case is continuing.
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