MuzaffarpurShelter Home Rape case refers to a shelter home that ran under a non-governmental organization called "Sewa Sankalp Evam Vikas Samiti" at Muzaffarpur, Bihar, where cases of sexual abuse, rape and torture were reported. In a medical examination, sexual abuse of 34 out of 42 inmates living at the shelter was confirmed. A first information report was lodged against 12 people on May 31, 2018. Brajesh Thakur was the chief of the state-funded NGO, ran several other NGOs and a Hindi newspaper called 'Pratah Kamal'. Because of the political connections of Brajesh Thakur and the involvement of government officials and the apparent delay in investigation and CBI interference, the case drew criticism of Nitish Kumar's government by opposition and the Supreme Court of India.
Discovery
In May 2018, reports of repeated sexual abuse of inmates at a short stay home in Muzaffarpur, India, surfaced after Mumbai’s Tata Institute of Social Sciences carried out a social audit of shelter homes across Bihar for 2017. The audit report pointed to sexual abuse of girls at the Muzaffarpur short-stay home. TISS submitted its report in April 2018 and the government after its review registered the FIR on 31 May. Following the expose, the girls were rescued from the shelter home and shifted to Madhubani, Patna and Mokama. Later the medical board of Patna Medical College Hospital in June confirmed the sexual abuse of a majority of the girls of the ‘Balika Grih’. Brajesh Thakur, main accused in the Muzaffarpur shelter home rape case, has been booked in another case after it was found that 11 women were missing from another shelter home his NGO ran. Of the 42 girls housed at Balika Grih, medical tests have confirmed sexual assault on 34. While girls were allegedly forced to undergo abortion, one was allegedly killed and buried on the shelter home campus. In late June the authorities dug the vacant space inside the Muzaffarpur short-stay home over allegations that one girl was allegedly killed and buried after an argument with the staff. The authorities, however, did not find any human body. On 2 August 2018, Supreme Court of India took a suo moto cognizance in the Muzaffarpur shelter home case. Brajesh Thakur is the prime accused in Muzaffarpur shelter home case where 34 girls, aged between 7 and 17, were raped for months. Ten out of 11 accused have been arrested, including Thakur and the then district child protection officer. They are to be tried under the POCSO act. The case was later transferred to the CBI which has taken over the probe and has obtained all relevant documents from the local police.
Reactions
On 3 August, the Supreme court of India reprimanded media organizations for repeatedly interviewing the accused to avoid traumatizing them and asked for pictures not to be published, even in morphed form. On 4 August, some political parties led a statewide strike in Bihar, which was also supported by the Congress and RJD. There was a protest at Jantar Mantar at New Delhi, organized by 12 different political parties together, in a show of unity. February 12,2019... The transfer of the Muzaffarpur shelter home trial to Delhi by Supreme court.
