The Jamui viral video harassment case has set off a wave of anger across the country.
What should have been an ordinary evening for two school students turned into a nightmare when a group of men decided it was their duty to harass them in the name of “moral policing”. Then they beat them up and molested the girl, as both children begged to be let go.
All of it was caught on video and posted online. Netizens amplified it, furious at the sheer audacity of the men and determined to get justice for the two children.
Soon after, though, the Bihar police reportedly booked around 120 social media accounts for sharing the videos and revealing the victims’ identities.
The police aren’t wrong here, since identifying minor victims is illegal under Indian law. But many people have pointed out that those same videos are the only reason swift action was taken at all.
What Happened In Jamui?
On the evening of September 19, two Class 10 students in Bihar’s Jamui were riding home from coaching classes on a two-wheeler and stopped at a nearby spot to take photographs. A group of men stopped them, questioned them, and then assaulted and molested them. The case might never have left Jamui if the videos hadn’t surfaced two days later.
The videos laid out, in horrifying detail, what the two children went through, and how confidently the men went about it, with no fear of consequences and no sense of wrong.
One video shows the two on a scooter, the girl seated behind the boy, with several people surrounding them. The boy pleads that they study at the same school and that their families know about their friendship and where they are.
One of the men slaps him and says, “If they know, then call them,” while another is heard saying, “Call the family.”
In another video, the girl, hands folded, begs to be let go: “Please let us go, we will never come here again.”
The clip that drew the most anger shows the group chasing the children. The boy is dragged by his shirt collar while a man with his face covered picks up the girl and tries to run off with her, touching her inappropriately.
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The 120 Accounts Booked
The investigation is still underway. Police identified seven suspects from the videos, and five have been arrested so far, including the main accused, Nandan Yadav, who was shot in the leg during a police encounter on September 22. Meanwhile, around 120 social media accounts have been booked for allegedly revealing the identities of the minor victims, and the video has been taken down from 132 accounts.
Legally, the police are on solid ground. Under Indian law, it is illegal to show minor victims or reveal any information that could identify them. Doing so is punishable under the POCSO Act, the IT Act, the Juvenile Justice Act, and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
The Bihar police also posted on X, urging people not to share the videos: “The video involving the minor victim is extremely sensitive. Therefore, do not share or repost this video on social media or any other medium. Also, do not reveal the identity of the minor. According to the police, doing so is a punishable offense under the POCSO Act, the IT Act, and the Juvenile Justice Act.”
Another police officer reportedly said, “It is known that under Section 23 of the POCSO Act, revealing the identity of a minor is prohibited. Violation of this carries a provision for imprisonment ranging from 6 months to 1 year, a fine, or both. Therefore, do not share the face, name, or any such information of any minor victim on social media that could make their identity public.”
Every step should be taken to protect the minor victims, and their identities should be handled with sensitivity and respect. But netizens have raised a fair counterpoint: without those videos and the national outrage they sparked, would this have ended up as just another local case, quietly buried?
Reports say the children didn’t tell their parents right away, out of fear.
Jamui Superintendent of Police Bishwajeet Dayal said, “There was no formal complaint registered by anyone against anyone in the incident.”
He added, “The police took suo motu cognisance of the incident and approached the victim girl and her friend, a boy. Both were returning from a hillside area after their coaching was over on the Jamui-Lakhisarai road where a group of six to seven people, some even masked, stopped them as it is shown in the viral video and they were being harassed on September 19 evening at around 7 p.m.”
The SP further told reporters, “Today, when the video went viral, we traced the victims with the help of the registration number of a vehicle visible in the clip.”
The National Commission for Women also took suo motu cognisance of the alleged assault on September 21, based on the videos circulating online. It directed the Director General of Police to register an FIR immediately. The State Commission for Women took suo motu cognisance too.
The boy’s mother told The Indian Express, “I can’t comprehend how such a thing happened. We are completely blank. We came to know through Instagram; the children did not tell us out of fear.”
ADG (Law and Order) K S Anupam later said, “The girl informed her family on the night of September 20, and on September 21, the victim’s father submitted a written complaint at the police station. Jamui police have constituted a special SIT under the leadership of Sub-Divisional Police Officer, Jamui, Deepti Monali, and raids are being conducted.”
An FIR was then registered under the relevant provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the BNS.
Which brings us to the uncomfortable part. This case might have gone nowhere if social media users hadn’t been outraged by the clips, and if those clips hadn’t given the police what they needed to identify the perpetrators.
In an Instagram post, user @martyrsnsurvivors wrote, “This crime would have been buried if it hadn’t gone viral. Both kids and their families were so traumatised and terrified that they couldn’t even go to the police. The clips are only 35 sec short, but these kids went through 20 minutes of absolute horror.”
Instagram user @withlove_cynthiaa wrote, “I know it (the video) shouldn’t be circulated or spoken about the way it has been. But I’m glad it got out. Without it, there would have been denials, someone insisting nothing like this happened. But it did happen.”
Others under the post agreed. One wrote, “’I want ppl to stop needing a viral video before they believe a girl.’ That one sentence alone is loud enough. It’s unbelievable that to attain justice, this is how far one has to reach! The country we live in, it’s people, their mindsets—it is all unbelievable as a human! Disgustful!”
Another wrote, “They were only caught after one of them released the video; otherwise, nobody would’ve known about this, and they would be roaming free.”
One Instagram user wrote, “Shame on Bihar police because the video was shared; you had no choice other than taking action and finding the culprits you should have some shame,” while another commented, “But Police identified seven suspects through video analysis and arrested because the video went viral and shared.”
Under a post about the FIRs against the social media accounts, another user wrote, “Social media helped to bring the act in notice to common being action should be taken against the social accounts, but the people who did the assault and molested the girl should be arrested first.”
These comments carry weight, because even with the outrage and graphic video evidence, some politicians were quick to play it down.
Speaking to reporters, JD(U) Bihar president Umesh Singh Kushwaha said, “When such ‘isolated/minor (chhitput ghatna)’ incidents happen, our administration takes quick action. But one should recall what was the state of affairs on the law and order front before 2005, when people used to live under fear and nobody used to venture out.”
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Kushwaha later called the incident “shameful and inhuman” in a social media post, but only after his remarks drew criticism. His party, the JD(U), is part of Bihar’s ruling BJP-led NDA government.
Bihar minister Shravan Kumar struck a similar note: “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.”
Patna, Bihar: Minister Shrawon Kumar says, “The world is not entirely free from crime; sporadic incidents do occur. The government keeps a close watch on such incidents. Those who commit such acts in Bihar cannot escape; strict action has been taken against them in the past as… pic.twitter.com/94FglPTtfN
— IANS (@ians_india) September 21, 2026
So basically, a girl was groped in full public view, two children were beaten and traumatised because some men felt like it, and the first instinct of those in power was to call it “isolated” and change the subject to what Bihar looked like two decades ago.
The girl’s father put it more simply to Newslaundry: “I will be happy only when my daughter gets justice.”
Yes, many of the people circulating these videos have probably broken the law. Some did it carelessly, with no thought for the girl, or the boy, at the centre of it.
But it’s also true that the only reason this case moved at all, instead of being reduced to a paragraph and a “we’re looking into it” from the police, is that enough people made sure looking away was almost impossible.
Image Credits: Google Images
Sources: The Week, The Indian Express, Hindustan Times, Newslaundry, Free Press Journal, IANS
Find the blogger: @chirali_08
This post is tagged under: Jamui, Bihar, Bihar news, Jamui incident, Jamui news, Jamui Bihar, Jamui horror, Bihar molestation, moral policing, moral policing India, Jamui harassment case, Jamui harassment row, sexual harassment, harassment, Jamui viral video harassment, Bihar police, Jamui harassment viral video case
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