Woman being stripped, paraded naked in Bihar’s Bhojpur shows Nitish Kumar’s administration is paralysed
One horrific incident after the other is proving that Nitish Kumar has lost control over governance in the state of Bihar. From the shocking revelation about sexual abuse of young girls and women in shelter homes to now the stripping of a woman in Bihiya, a small town in Bihar’s Bhojpur district, by a mob all point to the absolute failure of the administrative order under the leadership of Nitish Kumar.
The latest incident which has shamed the Janata Dal (United)-led government saw a mob thrash, disrobe and then parade a woman in full public view on the suspicion that she was behind the killing of a youth from the area.
The man, identified as Vimlesh Sav, was found murdered near the railway tracks on the morning of August 21. Once the locals spotted the body and the news of the murder spread, people in the area went on a rampage burning down shops and vehicles, including those belonging to the police.
The mob attacked the house of the woman who they accused of killing the man. They said the woman killed Vimlesh and threw his body on the railways tracks to make it look like an accident.
Shockingly, the woman’s disrobing happened in front of police personnel. The policemen stood and watched even as the woman was taken through the streets nude.
What allegedly fueled the mob is a surge in criminal incidents in Bhojpur district. Nearly half-a-dozen murders have reportedly taken place in Bihiya alone in the last few days signalling a complete breakdown of law and order in the state.
The woman's ordeal reportedly went on for about five hours. Nobody stepped in to help and the administration appeared paralysed.
The Bhojpur incident is, however, not the only one puncturing holes into Nitish Kumar’s claims of providing ‘sushashan’ (good governance).
Just last week, 58-year-old Rajiv Kumar, a government officer posted as undersecretary in the Patna secretariat was shot dead by criminals inside his house. The criminals had barged into his house allegedly with the intention to loot. Kumar was, however, shot when he reportedly tried to resist.
A day before Kumar was killed, a local Rashtriya Lok Samata Party leader, Mahesh Sahni, was shot inside his office in Jandaha block in Vaishali district.
The incidents are being reported even as the public is trying to come to terms with the revelations about sexual abuse in Bihar’s shelter homes, a news that not only shocked Bihar, but the entire country.
The question is - if this is not jungle raj, what is?
Nitish is the same person who when he took over as chief minister in 2005 put behind bars more than 77,000 criminals and brought the crime graph under check. However since 2013, when he snapped ties with BJP, he seems to be losing the plot.
In the last six months, incidents of murder, rape and loot have dominated news headlines leading to anger rising among the people.
A woman being paraded naked by a mob is a chilling statement about how unsafe Bihar is for women. The fact that this horror went on for a full five hours is a sad testimony to how inept our administrations prove when it comes to saving women.
Nitish has a lot to answer for when it comes to the security of women in his state.
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