SC raps Bihar for missing girls at shelter

In a severe indictment of the Bihar administration, the SC has held the state government responsible for turning its women’s protection home into a den for “trafficking of girls and women”. Bhadra Sinha reports.

In a severe indictment of the Bihar administration, the Supreme Court (SC) has held the state government responsible for turning its women’s protection home into a den for “trafficking of girls and women”.

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A bench headed by Justice SB Sinha passed the strictures while hearing the petition of a father whose 16-year-old daughter ran away from the Nari Suraksha Griha in Patna. The girl, along with three others, scaled a 12-foot high wall of the home in August last year.

The incident took place at a time when the apex court was hearing the father’s petition seeking custody of his daughter. Though the local police conducted raids in several parts of the state following a SC order, they could trace only two of the missing girls.

Asking the State Human Rights Commission to conduct an inquiry into the functioning of the home, the bench directed the state's chief secretary to submit a report with respect to the maintenance and governance of the Suraksha Griha.

It directed the chief secretary to initiate steps to improve security arrangements at the home and submit a report to apex court, giving details of the measures and also indicate the reasons behind the police's inability to trace the girls.