Man forced to lick his saliva in Bihar

Biharsharif, October 20

A man was forced to lick his own spit in Bihar’s Nalanda district as punishment for trying to enter the house of an influential man of a village, allegedly without permission.

A case was registered today against the perpetrators of the crime after a video showing the incident went viral on social media. The sordid incident took place at Azadpur village under the Noorsarai police station area yesterday.

The 54-year-old man named Mahesh Thakur, a barber, had tried to enter the house, allegedly without knocking on its door, on Wednesday evening.

A panchayat meeting was called in the village the next day by mukhiya Dayanand Manjhi and it decided on the punishment in which the man was forced to spit and then lick it for his alleged misdeed.

Thakur’s misery did not end there as he was then beaten up by women with their slippers in full public view. Nalanda, which is about 70 km from state capital Patna, is the home district of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

After the video on the incident went viral, Nalanda District Magistrate Thiyagarajan SM and Superintendent of Police Sudhir Kumar Porika today ordered registration of an FIR against eight persons.

The accused included Manjhi and Dharmendra Yadav, kin of the person in whose house Thakur had tried to enter. The FIR was registered on the statement of the victim. No arrest could be made so far.

The DM and SP said that conflicting information emerged after talking to villagers about the incident. While some said that Thakur tried to enter the house at a time when only women family members were present inside, some others said he had gone to seek “khaini” (tobacco) from the house owner not knowing that he was not at home.

The Noorsarai office in-charge has been entrusted with the probe. — PTI

Panchayat Fatwa 

• A Nalanda village panchayat issued the fatwa against the 54-year-old man for allegedly trying to enter a house without knocking on door 
• A case has been registered against the perpetrators of the crime