Tata Institute of Social Sciences has revealed in an audit report that minor girls between the ages of six and 18 living at a government children’s home on Sahu Road under Town Police Station in Muzaffarpur, Bihar, are subjected to sexual assault. It further raised questions on how the children’s home was being run. The audit was conducted between January and March this year.
Following this report, a case was filed at the Women’s police station in Muzaffarpur under Section 376 and 120B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act against NGO Seva Sankalp Evam Vikas Samiti, run by local politician and muscleman Brajesh Thakur.
According to a report in The Times of India, it was district Child Protection Unit assistant director Dibesh Kumar Sharma who began the crackdown after receiving the audit on 26 May. On 28 May, he wrote a letter to the Social Welfare Department demanding action be taken. He got the go-ahead the next day, after which a written complaint was filed at the police station and all the minor girls were shifted under police protection to Madhubani and Patna.
Forty-six girls, including 14 of special category who require special attention for performing daily chores, were at the home, and were shifted to other districts in Bihar in the last two days.Dibesh Kumar Sharma to TOI
Additionally, the district Child Protection Unit has taken the building under its control on the direction of the Social Welfare Directorate and Child Welfare Committee (CWC), Patna, that are responsible for keeping a vigil on such NGOs.
The girl’s children’s home in Muzaffarpur run by Seva Sankalp Evam Vikas Samiti was both found by us to be running in a highly questionable manner along with grave instances of violence that were reported by the residents. Several girls reported about violence and being abused sexually. This is very serious and needs to be further investigated promptly. Immediate legal procedure must be followed to enquire into the charges and corrective measures be taken.Excerpt from the TISS audit
Short stay homes like the one in question give shelter to girls who run away from their homes, get separated from their families due to unstable mental conditions, or are abandoned by their parents. These homes are funded by the state government but run by NGOs on a contract basis.
The Seva Sankalp Ewan Vikash Samiti had entered into a contract with the Bihar state government’s Social Welfare Department running the children’s home for seven years. Sharma told TOI that the agreement was signed in October 2013.
Speaking to News 18, Muzaffarpur District Magistrate Mohammad Sohail said that Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Harprit Kaur was heading the investigation and those responsible for such heinous crimes would be arrested at the earliest.
Kaur reached the children’s home on Saturday and began the investigations. She told TOI that two teams of female police officers and counsellors were sent to the places where the young residents of the home had been shifted.
The teams would record statements. The matter is serous. NGO proprietor Brajesh Thakur and some other office bearers were quizzed on Saturday. Action would be taken as soon evidences surface in the case.Harprit Kaur, Senior Superintendent of Police, to TOI
News agency ANI quoted Kaur as saying that no person has been named yet in the FIR.
The state's Social Welfare Minister Manju Verma told News18 that strict action would be taken against the culprits, and, if found guilty, NGO Seva Sankalp Evam Vikas Samiti would be blacklisted.
When Verma was asked how such an incident could have occurred under her department’s nodal office watch, she said: “How we will know about such things unless someone will report about it? Now that the case has been reported, I have taken cognisance.”
Brajesh Thakur denied any and all wrongdoing and rubbished the report published by TISS.
(With inputs from ANI and The Times of India)
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