A photo of a barber in Bihar licking his own spit has gone viral on social media platforms. 54-year-old man named Mahesh Thakur, according to reports, was made to lick his own spit in Bihar’s Nalanda district as punishment for allegedly trying to enter the house of the village sarpanch without permission.
The shameful act took place at Azadpur village under Noorsarai police station area on Thursday, reported PTI. After the photo went viral, the local administration acted to file a case against those involved.
Thakur was alleged to have entered the house of the sarpanch Dayanand Manjhi without knocking at the door when there were only female members at the house. However, the elderly man said that he was unaware that only female members were home at that time.
A panchayat sabha was called in the village the next day by panchayat chief Dayanand Manjhi which 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 by women with their slippers in full public view. Nalanda, which is about 70 km from capital Patna, is the home district of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
After the video on the incident went viral, Nalanda district magistrate Thiyagarajan S M and superintendent of police Sudhir Kumar Porika today ordered registration of FIR against eight people.
The accused included Mr Manjhi and Dharmendra Yadav, who is the kin of the person whose house Thakur tried to enter allegedly without permission. The FIR was registered on the basis of the statement of the victim.
No arrests have been made so far as the accused are absconding, Mr Porika told reporters.
Police officials said that conflicting information emerged after talking to villagers about the incident. While some said that Thakur tried to enter into the house at a time when only women family members were present, others said that he had gone to seek ‘khaini’ (tobacco) from the house owner not knowing that he was not at home.
Noorsarai Office in-charge has been entrusted with the probe into the incident and to catch the accused, the SP said.