Banka: 6 Men booked after video of woman being harassed at Mandar Hill goes viral

A viral video allegedly showed a young woman being harassed and assaulted at Mandar Hill in Banka district. The footage has prompted a police case and scrutiny of security at the tourist site.

In Short

• Police received the footage through their social media cell on September 22
• Officers reached the site within minutes and verified the location
• Shopkeepers told police those in the footage appeared to be youths

A case has been registered against six unidentified youths after a video allegedly showing a young woman being harassed and assaulted at Bihar's historic Mandar Hill in Banka district surfaced on social media.

The video, which shows a date of September 3, allegedly depicts the youths behaving indecently with the woman and hitting her with a slipper. Police received the video through their social media cell on September 22, nearly three weeks after the alleged incident.

Following the video's circulation, Bounsi police reached Mandar Hill to verify its authenticity. Bounsi police station SHO Pankaj Kumar Jha said the video was received on his WhatsApp at around 2:45 pm on September 22 following which, on the directions of senior officers, he went to the site with a police team.

The team reached Mandar Hill at around 3 pm and verified that the location shown in the video was indeed the tourist site.

According to the FIR, six unidentified people can allegedly be seen engaging in indecent and obscene acts with the woman. The complaint also states that the incident was recorded on video and circulated on social media.

Police questioned local residents and shopkeepers around Mandar Hill in an attempt to identify the youths and the woman seen in the video. Shopkeepers told police that the people visible in the footage appeared to be young men. However, none of them had been identified by the time the FIR was registered.

The case was registered at Bounsi police station on the SHO's statement under Sections 74, 75, 76 and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with Sections 66E and 67A of the Information Technology Act, 2000.

Police have taken the viral video on record as evidence and are working to identify the accused based on the footage.

The circulation of the video has also raised questions over security arrangements at Mandar Hill, a major tourist destination in the district. Further legal action will be taken based on the findings of the video investigation.

- Ends
With inputs from Deepak Kumar