Assault on girl sparks outrage, Bihar Assembly rocked

Patna/New Delhi, July 24 (PTI) The alleged assault and
stripping of a young woman on the busy Exhibition Road in
Patna sparked an outrage Friday among woman bodies and the
opposition who described the incident as shameful even as
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar ordered a high-level police probe.

The National Commission for Women (NCW) sought a report
from the Bihar Government into the "shocking" incident in full
public view on Thursday which also rocked the state assembly
in India's eastern state of Bihar.

It asked the chief minister to ensure such incidents do
not recur after the 22-year-old woman from eastern state of
Jharkand became a victim of yet another vigilante action in
the state after being suspected to be a cellphone thief.

"It is a highly condemnable incident and we will not
tolerate it," Kumar said, adding he had ordered Director
General of Police (DGP) D N Gautam to inquire into the
incident and book the guilty.

"A campaign will be launched by the police against
vigilante justice," he told reporters.

Additional DGP (HQ) Neelmani said an assistant
sub-inspector Shiv Nath Singh was suspended for alleged
dereliction of duty.

Ashok Kumar and Manager Shailendra--the owners of the
hotel where the girl stayed--were detained for interrogation,
police said. The woman, who was allegedly involved in flesh
trade, claimed she was lured to Patna with a job promise.

"It has come to our notice that policemen reached the
spot late," the chief minister said.

Nitish's bete noire and former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu
Prasad said no probe will serve any purpose since people have
taken law into their own hands.

Opposition members in the Assembly stormed the well
forcing Speaker U N Choudhary to adjourn the house four times
in the pre-lunch session.

The issue was raised in the Assembly by Rashtriya Janata
Dal (RJD), Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), Congress and the Left
parties whose Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs) shouted
slogans like "Mahilaon par atyachar band karo, mahilaon ka
utpidan band karo, cheer haran band karo (stop atrocities on
women)".


They urged the Speaker to accept the adjournment motion
moved by them seeking a debate on what they claimed as growing
atrocities on women in Bihar. Some of the members lifted the
reporters' chairs and put them on the reporters' desk to
register their protest.

Nitish Kumar charged the opposition with 'politicising'
the incident instead of cooperating with the state government.

In New Delhi, NCW Chairperson Girija Vyas said she was
"shocked to see TV footage" of the incident.

The woman, a resident of Jasidih, was allegedly engaged
in flesh trade and had picked up a quarrel with one Rakesh, a
suspected pimp, over sharing of money, police said.

She then took Rakesh's mobile demanding more money.

Rakesh started shouting that she had stolen his mobile
phone after which a group of people beat up the woman and
allegedly tore her clothes.

"Even if something of that sort has happened, one should
go to police, nobody can do like this...I have already
written to the Commissioner and Chief Minister that he should
take care that such things do not take place," Vyas said.

Congress spokesperson Jayanti Natrajan said the incident
was outrageous deserving severe condemnation.

Former Child and Women Development Minister Renuka
Choudhury said it was the responsibility of the Chief Minister
to launch a crackdown on such elements and set an example.

"If he goes on for a crackdown, it will act as a huge
deterrent because a signal goes out that the government is
not going to tolerate or accept such behaviour," she said. PTI
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