Woman assaulted, paraded naked in Bihar; 16 arrested

Sixteen persons were arrested in Ara on Tuesday where a woman was paraded naked by a mob following the recovery of the body of a teenager near her house.

The deceased Bimlesh Shah, 16, had gone to Bihiya near Ara in Bihar’s Bhojpur district to take admission in Class XIth. However, his body was found near the railway track on Monday.

Infuriated over the incident, an unruly mob took to streets and burnt shops, kiosks before attacking the woman, who, the locals feel, was responsible for the teenager’s death. Though initially it was suspected that the boy died in an accident, the post-mortem report confirmed that he was killed as his neck bone was fractured. There were injury marks on his private parts too.

Shocked over hearing the news of her brother’s death, 13-year-old Shobha too died of heart attack. The situation then turned more volatile. Additional police reinforcement was rushed to the place of occurrence as the mob attacked trains passing through Ara.

“We have suspended eight cops, including the station house officer (SHO) of Bihiya police station Kunwar Prasad Gupta. The effort is on to identify all those who were part of the mob which thrashed the woman and forced her to parade naked. Till now, 16 persons have been arrested in this case,” said Avakash Kumar, Bhojpur SP, who is camping at Bihiya, some 25 km from Ara (the district headquarters of Bhojpur).

The woman, who is said to be a Dalit, is recuperating at a local hospital. She is believed to be part of an orchestra group which was also allegedly into flesh trade business.

Former Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav was quick to launch an offensive against Nitish. “In Bihar, a woman is allegedly stripped, thrashed & paraded naked by a mob in a lawless State. I am speechless & numb to see the heart-wrenching videos of that woman. Nitish ji, with folded holds, I request you to fix law and order & ensure women safety and security. Pls.” tweeted Tejashwi.