Schoolgirl attacked by group of girls in Mumbai; cops resort to counselling

Mumbai: A video has surfaced online showing a school-going girl being assaulted by a group of minor girls in Mumbai's Versova area following an argument over some issue, prompting police to counsel the attackers, the victim and their parents.

A Versova police station official on Monday said the incident took place around two weeks and they took cognisance of it after a video of the assault surfaced on the Internet.

The disturbing video shows a schoolgirl being mercilessly beaten up by a group of girls in the Yari Road locality. The attackers can be seen punching and kicking the minor girl, who was in her school dress, even as she falls on the ground.

The local police counselled all the girls seen in the video -- all of them minors -- along with their parents for two days after the clip went viral, the official said, adding "We are investigating who circulated the video."

In a series of message on X, the police said, "Taking cognisance of a viral video of the attack on a girl in Versova, Nirbhaya squad (special cell to prevent crime against women/children) conducted an investigation. During the investigation, it was revealed all the girls visible in the video are minors and belong to the same locality. An argument over a small issue led to a fight between them." Counselling of all the girls and their parents was done by Versova police officials and the Sneha Foundation, an NGO, with the help of local child welfare committee members, they said.

The Nirbhaya squad is keeping a close eye on the matter and patrolling has been increased at the location, said the police.