Inmates of a state-run short-stay home in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur who were rescued following allegations of sexual exploitation have revealed that a 14-year-old girl was killed and her body buried in the home’s backyard.
At least 2–3 inmates, who have been shifted to a shelter in Patna, told a judicial magistrate that officials of Seva Sankalp Evam Vikas Samiti, an NGO that was engaged by the welfare department to run short-stay home, had killed the girl as she had resisted sexual assault bid on her, police sources said.
Police have taken permission from a local POCSO court to conduct a search and exhume the body from the shelter campus.
Police are now waiting for deputation of magistrates, a video team, a dog squad, machines and equipments to start digging the suspected places at the shelter home backyard.
Muzaffarpur special POCSO court judge, R P Tiwari, police sources said, has directed the district magistrate to make available all things required by police to substantiate the inmates’ claim.
Muzaffarpur SSP, Harpreet Kaur said the task would be done within a day or two, but did not reveal the exact date when the search would be carried out.
{{/usCountry}}Muzaffarpur SSP, Harpreet Kaur said the task would be done within a day or two, but did not reveal the exact date when the search would be carried out.
{{/usCountry}}“We also have to take the girls who had made the allegation to identify the spot, and for that permission has been sought from the court,” she said.
Reports of sexual abuse of girls at short-stay homes of Muzaffarpur and Chapra, opened by the state’s welfare department for destitute children, surfaced following a social audit by Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS).
Following the revelation, 46 inmates aged between seven and 18 years sheltered at the Muzaffarpur home were shifted to homes in Patna and Madhubani.
One of the girls, who had levelled serious allegations against the NGO, later allegedly fled from the Madhubani home.
The state social welfare department has decided to rope in transgenders for the security of such shelters.
Chief minister Nitish Kumar has already given his go-ahead to the department’s proposal and asked the officials to ensure the safety and security of the inmates.