New Delhi, Sep 21 (PTI) Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday sought swift justice in the reported incident of alleged moral policing and molestation of a teenage girl in Bihar’s Jamui, demanding that all those behind it must be prosecuted under POCSO and that the Bihar government must answer why a girl is not safe on a public road at 7 PM.
His remarks came after media reported that a teenage boy and girl returning from coaching classes in Jamui were stopped by a group of men on Saturday evening, surrounded, questioned and subjected to assault and molestation before being allowed to leave. The video of the incident has since gone viral.
In a post on X, Gandhi said, “The video from Jamui, Bihar is deeply disturbing. 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, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha asked.
“This is not ‘culture’. It is patriarchy: the belief that any man can police a girl’s body, her movement, her choice,” Gandhi said.
When control is mistaken for culture, and such attitudes are normalised by ‘Andhbhakts’, mobs start believing they are the law, Gandhi said.
“Every individual in that video must be identified and prosecuted under POCSO, and justice must be swift. And if the incident happened on September 19th, why are the culprits not behind bars yet?” he said.
And the Bihar government must answer why a girl is not safe on a public road at 7 PM, Gandhi asked. PTI ASK DV DV
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