Bettiah: Naurangiya police in West Champaran on Saturday arrested four persons in connection with Friday's incident in which an 18-year-old girl belonging to Tharoo community was tied to a pillar and thrashed at Dardari Kataya village in Naurangiya panchayat for her alleged love affair with a local youth.

Confirming the arrest, Bagaha superintendent of police (SP) Arvind Gupta said: "All the accused were identified on the basis of photographs of the incident. Investigation into the matter is underway."

The police named those arrested as Hansraj Kumar, Kamal Kumar, Surtel Kumar and Meghnath Kumar of Dardari Kataya village of Naurangiya panchayat in Bagaha-2 block.

The teenaged girl had no inkling of what fate held in store for her when she set off to meet her friend at his place on Friday.

The accused first abused her and then dragged her for some distance before tying her up against a pillar and thrashing her mercilessly.

"About a month back, residents had taken a strong umbrage to the relationship and asked the girl to not meet her friend. But when they got to know that she continued to meet him, they called a meeting where they decided to teach her a lesson," a source in the police said.

Residents remained mute spectators as the teenaged girl was humiliated.

All entreaties by the girl's family members fell on deaf ears. The police swung into action after news spread.