A viral video showing two Class 10 students allegedly being harassed by a group of youths in Bihar’s Jamui district has triggered widespread outrage among people across the country and a political controversy, with police registering an FIR under the POCSO Act and relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), arresting three suspects and identifying around seven alleged perpetrators.The incident took place on September 19 evening, when the boy and girl, who are friends and attend the same coaching institute, had gone on a motorcycle to a spot near Madwa hillock on the Jamui-Lakhisarai road to take photographs, according to Jamui Superintendent of Police Bishwajeet Dayal.Around 7 pm, while the two were returning, they were allegedly stopped by a group of local youths. The video circulating on social media purportedly shows the group surrounding the teenagers, making vulgar remarks and assaulting the boy, while the girl is allegedly subjected to sexual harassment.The footage also appears to show the group recording the incident. At one point, a man with his face covered approaches the girl and appears to lift her as she resists and screams. The boy appears to intervene as the confrontation escalates. The two are later seen leaving the spot.How the case came to lightThe teenagers and their families did not initially approach the police. According to the SP, no complaint had been filed until the video surfaced online on September 21.“Although the incident is two days old, no complaint was made before us by the boy or the girl till Jattvibeday. Today, when the video went viral, we traced the victims with the help of the registration number of a vehicle visible in the clip,” Dayal told reporters.Police subsequently registered an FIR at Jamui police station under the POCSO Act and relevant provisions of the BNS.Dayal said an SIT headed by Sub-Divisional Police Officer Deepti Monali had been constituted to identify and arrest the suspects.“An SIT headed by Sub-Divisional Police Officer Deepti Monali has been set up. The accused have not been named by the victims in the FIR lodged at Jamui police station, but we have identified around seven perpetrators with the help of the clip. Three persons have been arrested, and raids are being conducted to nab the others,” he said.Police have also begun steps for the “takedown of the video”, the SP said.Dayal confirmed that the boy and girl were friends and studied at the same coaching institute, but declined to disclose further details.“We must keep some information private,” he said.Women’s Commission seeks reportBihar State Women’s Commission chairperson Apsara Mishra said the commission had sought a detailed report from the district administration.“We have spoken to the Jamui DM, who told us that the incident took place near the district’s border with adjoining Lakhisarai. He also said all the accused have been identified. He has promised to keep us informed about the action taken in this regard,” Mishra told PTI videos.The police investigation is continuing, with teams conducting raids to trace the remaining suspects.Rahul Gandhi calls incident ‘deeply disturbing’The incident also triggered a political slugfest, with opposition leaders targeting the BJP-led Bihar government over the safety of women and girls.Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi described the incident as “deeply disturbing”.“This is not culture, it is patriarchy,” Gandhi said in a post on X, alleging that such attitudes were being “normalised”.He demanded that those identified in the video be “prosecuted under POCSO” and questioned “why a girl is not safe on a public road”.The Aam Aadmi Party also shared the video on its X account and attacked the BJP-led government over the incident, invoking Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “beti bachao” slogan.RJD working president and Bihar Assembly Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav also criticised the state government, using the term “nausikhiya” (inept) for Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary. Yadav also held Modi “solely responsible” for what he described as “anarchy in Bihar”.The Trinamool Congress condemned the incident as well.“What gives anyone the right to put their hands on a woman’s body, WITHOUT HER CONSENT?” the party said in a post on X.“The Jamui incident is deeply disturbing. The trauma inflicted on that young woman – and on the young man who was subjected to such humiliation – will not disappear anytime soon,” it said, adding that everyone responsible should face due process and the strongest punishment permitted by law.JD(U) says law and order ‘totally secure’In Kolkata, Union Panchayati Raj and Fisheries Minister and JD(U) national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh defended the state’s law-and-order situation.“Law and order in the state is totally secure,” Singh said on the sidelines of a review meeting on fisheries development in West Bengal.“If any individual incident takes place, steps are taken, and police ensure appropriate action on it,” he said.Singh said the overall law-and-order situation in a state could not be judged on the basis of an individual incident.BJP spokesperson Neeraj Kumar Sharma, meanwhile, said the Bihar Police deserved to be commended for acting proactively and launching the investigation without waiting for a complaint from the victims.The case remains under investigation, with the SIT conducting raids to arrest the remaining suspects.inputs from PTI