Congress, RJD walk out of Lok Sabha over Muzaffarpur case

Opposition parties, including Congress and RJD, on Monday staged a walkout in the Lok Sabha demanding a statement from Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Muzaffarpur shelter home rapes, and alleging that evidence had been tampered with.

"Home Minister is here, why he is not replying," Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge said in the Lok Sabha soon after the House resumed its business after a brief adjournment on the issue.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said the issue had been raised in the House earlier also and assured the MPs that the CBI inquiry into the matter will be impartial.

He said the MPs' concerns will be brought to the attention of the Home Minister. Not satisfied with his reply, Opposition members, including those from Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal and CPI-M, walked out.

Earlier, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said the government should monitor the CBI inquiry.

The House was earlier adjourned for 15 minutes after Congress member from Bihar's Supaul, Ranjeet Ranjan, came near the Speaker's podium and tore the paper she was holding and threw it towards the chair.

She also threw books from the table of the Lok Sabha Secretary General.

Ranjan alleged that evidence had been tampered with and some of the accused had fled to Nepal. She said the state government did not show seriousness on the issue.

Rashtriya Janata Dal member Jay Prakash Narayan Yadav also expressed his concern.

As many as 34 minor girls were allegedly sexually assaulted in the Balika Grih, a short-stay girls' shelter home run by an NGO in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district.

The shelter home has been sealed after the horror came to light. The state's Social Welfare Department has filed an FIR based on the findings of a social audit conducted by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.

--IANS

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