Bihar: 30 school girls thrashed for resisting sexual harassment
In yet another horrific incident of violence against women, 30 school girls were thrashed in Bihar for resisting sexual harassment and objecting to lewd graffiti. The girls were left injured after the attack and had to be taken to a local hospital for treatment. Meanwhile, nine people have been arrested in connection with the case so far. Here are the details.
What triggered the horrific incident
The incident reportedly took place on Saturday at the Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya in Triveniganj, 250km from state capital Patna. After catching local boys sneaking into the school and writing vulgar messages, the girls -aged 12 to 16 years - had asked the boys to leave. However, the boys reportedly misbehaved, prompting the girls to beat them up in self-defence, reported NDTV.
The thrashing left 30 girls injured
Subsequently, the local boys left the school premises, but returned again around 5pm with their parents and relatives. They barged into the school, which had no security guards or security system, and thrashed the the frightened girls and some of their teachers. Despite the school principal's call for calm, the mob went about with its vengeance. 74 girls were present, and 30 got injured.
An FIR was lodged in the aftermath of the incident
After the incident, an FIR was lodged against the locals and subsequently, nine people named in the FIR was arrested. Meanwhile, the injured girls were admitted to the Triveniganj referral hospital. While 22 have been released so far, the rest are still undergoing treatment and are expected to be discharged within a day or two.
Opposition leader slams the Nitish Kumar government after the incident
The incident has also been politicized. Following the attack, opposition leader Tejashwi Yadav slammed the Nitish Kumar government on Twitter, saying that the Chief Minister had "totally surrendered himself in the hands of goons & Deputy CM is begging mercy to hardened criminals". Yadav added that Nitish Kumar "personally interferes to ensure that rapists & perpetrators gets a free run".
