Muzzafarpur shelter case: SC directs Bihar govt to give probe report to CBI

The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued an order to the Nitish Kumar-led government in Bihar to handover the investigation report prepared on the seventeen shelter homes of Muzzafarpur and their owners to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

This came after the apex court pulled up the state administration for its approach towards investigation and failure to file a correct First Information Report (FIR) in the alleged rape of girls at the shelter homes.

During the hearing, the top court bench of Justices Madan B Lokur, S Abdul Nazeer and Deepak Gupta had called it "tragic". Justice Deepak Gupta said, "Every time I read this file (relating to the case), I find it tragic."

These comments from the bench came after a petitioner informed the court that the Bihar government was being "soft" on the accused. "A staff member is involved in sexual abuse and physical violence of girls. It was an offence under Section 377 of the IPC and the POCSO Act and they (police) has registered a case under minor charges," the petitioner added.

The gruesome incident came to light after Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) filed an affidavit detailing horrifying sexual abuse cases at the shelter homes in Bihar, the court observed.

The counsel appearing for the CBI told the Supreme Court that these are offenses against mankind. Children are being trained as "child soldiers" to finish off the other children if they don't listen to the staff of the shelter homes staff.

More than 40 minor girls were allegedly sexually assaulted over a period of time in the shelter home which was run by Brijesh Thakur's state-funded non-governmental organization (NGO). Thakur is the purported mastermind of the incidents.

Subsequently, the NGO was blacklisted and the girls were shifted to other shelter homes in Patna and Madhubani.