Oppn parties demand SC monitored probe into shelter home incidents

Opposition parties SP, RJD and the CPI today staged a protest outside Parliament demanding a Supreme Court-monitored probe into the alleged atrocities against young girls in shelter homes at Bihar's Muzaffarpur district and Uttar Pradesh's Deoria district.

They also took potshots at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his slogan of 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao', alleging girls are not safe in the country.

"We demand a Supreme Court-monitored probe into what has happened in the shelter homes in the two states and want the report to be presented in three months," RJD Lok Sabha MP Jay Prakash Narayan Yadav told reporters outside Parliament.

Yadav alleged the FIRs lodged in connection with the incidents were being changed to protest the accused and demanded the girls be kept under protection and shifted to Delhi.

Former UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav came down heavily on the BJP-ruled government in Uttar Pradesh over the prevailing law and order and claimed the present dispensation had withdrawn the response systems -- 1090 and 100 -- initiated by the earlier SP government to check crime.

"What happened with the girls is heart-wrenching. Culprits who were running and supporting the shelter home even after its license was revoked, should be exposed," the SP chief said.

As many as 24 girls were rescued from a shelter home in Deoria after allegation of sexual exploitation of the inmates came to light a few days ago. Around 18 inmates are reportedly missing.

The issue came close on the heels of the alleged sexual exploitation of young girls at the Muzaffarpur shelter home. An FIR was lodged on May 31 against 11 persons, including Brajesh Thakur, the owner of the NGO 'Seva Sankalp Evam Vikas Samiti' which ran the home for destitute girls funded by the government.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh termed the incident in Deoria as "shameful" today in Parliament and said no accused would be spared.