‘BJP has encouraged patriarchy’: Gaurav Gogoi attacks government over Jamui incident

Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi has criticised the BJP-led government over the alleged harassment of two Class 10 students in Bihar’s Jamui, accusing the party of encouraging a culture of patriarchy and protecting perpetrators.

Gogoi, Assam Congress MP, was reacting to a post by Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on the incident. Gandhi had described the viral video showing a teenage boy and girl being stopped and allegedly harassed by a group of people as “deeply disturbing” and demanded action under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

“The BJP has encouraged the patriarchy in Indian society,” Gogoi wrote while retweeting Gandhi’s post.

He alleged that young men had become confident that they could “grope, assault, abuse, lynch without any persecution”, and accused the BJP of ensuring that “the law protects the perpetrators” instead of delivering justice to victims.

“The young students in Jamui, Bihar deserve better. India deserves better. India can be better,” Gogoi wrote.

The remarks came after a video circulated on social media purportedly showing a minor boy and girl being confronted by a group of people in Jamui on September 19. Police said the two were friends who attended the same coaching institute and had gone to the area after their classes.

According to police, the incident took place at around 7 pm. The group allegedly stopped the teenagers, separated the boy from the girl and harassed them. Footage circulating online appears to show the girl being subjected to inappropriate physical contact, while the boy is also seen being confronted and assaulted. The authenticity of the videos could not be independently verified by news agencies.

Jamui Superintendent of Police Bishwajeet Dayal said police learnt about the incident after the videos went viral and traced the victims using the registration number of a vehicle visible in the footage.

“Although the incident is two days old, no complaint was made before us by the boy or the girl till Sunday. Today, when the video went viral, we traced the victims with the help of the registration number of a vehicle visible in the clip,” Dayal said.

An FIR has been registered under the provisions of the POCSO Act and relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Police have identified around seven people allegedly involved and arrested three of them. A Special Investigation Team headed by Sub-Divisional Police Officer Deepti Monali has also been formed to trace the remaining accused.

Gogoi's comments echoed Gandhi's criticism of the incident. Gandhi had questioned why the alleged perpetrators were not behind bars if the incident occurred on September 19 and asked why a girl was not safe on a public road in Bihar.

The incident has triggered a political confrontation in the state, with opposition parties criticising the BJP-led government over women's safety, while ruling alliance leaders have defended the police response.

Bihar BJP spokesperson Neeraj Kumar Sharma said the police deserved credit for acting on the viral footage without waiting for a complaint from the victims. Meanwhile, Union minister and JD(U) president Rajiv Ranjan Singh said law and order in Bihar was secure and that individual incidents should not be used to assess the overall situation in the state.

The Bihar State Women's Commission has also sought a detailed report from the Jamui district administration on the incident.