13 held in Bihar molestation case, eight of them minors

Altogether 13 persons, a majority of them minors, have been arrested in connection with molestation case of a teenaged girl the video of which had gone viral on social media last weekend, police said today.

"With the arrest today of Arvind Kumar, a resident of Khalidpur village under Kako police station area and another co-accused - a minor - the total number of arrests has reached 13", Superintendent of Police, Manish Kumar, said.

He claimed "all those wanted in connection with the case are now behind the bars. Eight of them are minors while the remaining five are less than 20 years of age. Investigation will be completed quickly and charge-sheet will be filed in the trial court at the earliest".

He also said "Arvind happens to be the guy who was known to the victim, a minor girl, from before. He had taken her to the spot where a group of youths pounced on her and tried to outrage her modesty".

The matter had come to light last week when a video footage, shot by one of the accused, went viral on the social media prompting Patna zone Inspector General of Police N H Khan to set up a special investigating team.

With the help of the number of the motorcycle as visible in the video clipping, the team came to the conclusion that the horrific crime had taken place in Jehanabad where an FIR was lodged by police on Sunday under relevant sections of the IPC, the POCSO Act and the IT Act.

Four persons were arrested on Sunday itself, followed by another four on Tuesday and three on Wednesday. All the arrested persons hail from different villages in Kako police station area.