Bihar Mahadalit woman assault case: Stringent action awaits guilty, says Nitish Kumar

Patna, Sep 25 (IANS) After a Mahadalit woman was stripped and assaulted in Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday said that the guilty will not be spared.

"Stringent police action awaits the accused. Nobody can get away with a wrong act," Kumar told media persons here during the birth anniversary celebrations of former Jan Sangh leader Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay.

Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, Finance Minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary and other ministers were also present on the occasion.

Notably, a Dalit woman of Mosimpur village under Khusrupur police station was kidnapped by one Pramod Singh and taken to his house. As per the victim, Singh and his men stripped her and assaulted her brutally.

The accused's son Anshu Singh also urinated in her mouth, she alleged, adding that she somehow managed to escape from the confinement.

Her relatives alerted the police officers who rescued the woman from the village.

According to the woman, she had borrowed Rs 1,500 on interest from Pramod Singh a few months ago which was returned.

Despite getting the entire money back with interest, the accused was pestering her for more interest, demand which she denied.

As Pramod was threatening to strip her in public, she lodged a complaint with Khusrupur police station.

Following her complaint, the police called Singh to join the probe in the police station. He went to the police station on Saturday for questioning.

After returning home, Singh reached the victim's house in the night and kidnapped her with the help of his supporters and committed the heinous crime.

Following the incident, Patna police swung into action and raided the house of the accused but failed to get them as they had fled from there. "We have registered an FIR against the accused in Khusrupur police station. Preliminary investigation reveals that the victim and accused had some dispute over money and the accused had beaten her. These two allegations have been established in the probe, while other allegations of stripping and urinating in her mouth are being investigated. We are raiding at different locations to nab the accused. They have locked the house and fled from there," said Syed Imram Masood, the rural SP of Patna district.