Woman stripped and paraded naked in streets of Bihar, 16 arrested

Patna: Altogether 16 outlaws who were involved in forcing a woman to parade naked by accusing her of murder at Bihia in Bhojpur district  have been arrested so far.

Bhojpur police superintendent Avkash Kumar said here on telephone that raids were being conducted to nab other accused. He said that efforts were on to identify and arrest those who were involved in taking photographs and making videos of the woman while she was being paraded naked. 

Mr Kumar said that the involvement of the woman, a member of a dance and theatre group in the murder of a 19-year-old youth Vimalesh Shah could not be ruled out at this stage.

As it is, the unruly mob had beaten up the woman and paraded her naked on the streets of Bihia yesterday following recovery of the body of Vimalesh near railway tracks and also close to the house of the woman. Vimalesh was missing since last Sunday.

The mob comprising residents of the boy's native Damodarpur village went berserk and indulged in heinous crime as it suspected that the teenager was strangulated to death by those living in a red-light area.

The infuriated people also burnt some shops and thrashed residents and shop owners besides pelting stones on an express train as well as on a local train.

Reacting sharply to the incident, leader of opposition in Bihar Assembly Tejaswi Yadav tweeted, "In Bihar a woman is allegedly stripped, thrashed and paraded naked by a mob in a lawless state. I am speechless and numb to watch the heart wrenching videos of that woman. Nitish Ji, with folded hands I request you to fix law and order and ensure women safety and security. Please."(UNI)