Two teenagers returning from coaching class in India’s eastern state of Bihar were reportedly surrounded by a group of men who assaulted the boy and molested the girl, sparking widespread condemnation.
The incident took place around 7pm on 19 September in Jamui in India’s poorest state when the two class 10 students were returning from their coaching on a scooter.
Several men surrounded the scooter being driven by the boy, with the girl seated behind him, according to a purported video of the incident that later surfaced on social media.
The boy tells them they study at the same school, and their families know about them, but a person slaps him saying, “then call them”.
In another video, a man can be seen grabbing the boy by his shirt and attempting to pull him.
The boy manages to get rid of the grip with the girl’s help before the two try to escape.
Another man grabs the girl by the neck, lifting her off the ground. The minor could be heard screaming and trying to resist. As the boy tries to intervene and pull her away, a scuffle follows, with one of the men molesting her.
The video from Jamui, Bihar is deeply disturbing.
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) September 21, 2026
Two Class 10 students were stopped on a road. Harassed. Humiliated. Molested. A young girl, hands folded, begged to be let go while goons groped her and dragged her away.
Who gave these men the right to behave like this? This is…
The group forces the duo to repeatedly apologise, and the girl can be heard pleading with the men, promising to not return to the area, with someone in the group eventually heard asking the two to leave, saying “go, go”.
Since the incident, the police have arrested six men, including Nandan Yadav, who was identified as the key accused and was shot in the leg during a chase on Tuesday.
It came after a preliminary chargesheet, known as First Information Report (FIR), was filed in the case, with a special investigations team formed under a Jamui sub-division police officer to identify and apprehend the others involved, reported the Times of India.
The case was registered under the stringent Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, invoked in instances involving abuse of minors.
This is quite something.
— Pawan Khera 🇮🇳 ಪವನ್ ಖೇರಾ (@Pawankhera) September 22, 2026
Bihar Government’s Jamui MLA and Sports Minister, Shreyasi Singh, says:
“Moral policing can be done in a decent and elegant fashion. But the way they mishandled and mistreated the boy and the girl together is absolutely not tolerable.”
So, what is… pic.twitter.com/vGosaDA9Ph
Jamui superintendent of police Vishwajeet Dayal told Press Trust of India Mr Yadav was the main accused and was hiding near Madwa Hill, where the two students were stopped. Police tried to apprehend him, but he allegedly attempted to flee and was subsequently shot in the left leg.
Among those arrested are three minors and other three are aged between 35 and 40, reported Times of India.
The National Commission for Women – the state women’s rights body – has also taken suo motu cognisance of the incident, demanding “time bound and impartial investigation”, while directing authorities to provide “security, legal assistance and psychological counselling” to the victims.
The police meanwhile have launched action against accounts circulating videos of minors, as Indian laws prohibit the identification of minors and women in cases involving sexual assault. So far, 13 Facebook accounts, 12 Instagram handles and seven Meta accounts have been identified for take down, reported India Today.
#WATCH | Jamui, Bihar: Nandan Yadav, the prime accused in the harassment of a minor girl in Jamui, has been shot in the leg during an encounter with the police. pic.twitter.com/odhctAsLPH
— ANI (@ANI) September 22, 2026
The police action comes amid widespread outrage after the clip of the incident was widely shared on social media, drawing criticism from key opposition figures, including leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi. Calling this incident “deeply disturbing”, he wrote: “Who gave these men the right to behave like this? This is not ‘culture.’ It is patriarchy: the belief that any man can police a girl's body, her movement, her choices.”
Former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee also condemned the incident, calling it “gut-wrenching” and “shocking”.
“Those who took the law into their own hands in the name of ‘moral policing’ must be held accountable by the police and the law. No society can allow mobs to decide who deserves dignity, who deserves freedom, or who deserves punishment,” she said.
It has also turned into a political flashpoint, with government of the state, headed by prime minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, is being widely criticised over the response of some of the MLAs to the incident.
Bihar minister Shrawon Kumar was criticised for calling the molestation of the minor an “isolated” incident. “These isolated incidents happen. Those who commit such acts in Bihar cannot escape; strict action has been taken against them in the past as well.”
Local politician and the state’s leader of the opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav called the incident a “blot” on Bihar.
“It is really sad they are calling the assault on the girl and boy as isolated. Had the same happened with any family member of any leader, would they have said the same thing? The harassment incident is shameful.”
Bihar sports minister Shreyasi Singh on Tuesday sparked a major controversy after she told India Today that “moral policing can be done in a more decent and elegant fashion, but the way they mishandled and mistreated the boy and girl together is absolutely not tolerable.”
The state has recorded highest number of violent crime incidents in 2024, with 107,303 cases recorded, according to data released this year by the National Crime Records Bureau.
At 12,438 cases, Bihar also recorded the highest number of kidnapping and abduction cases of women, inducing women to compel marriage.
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