Muzaffarpur shelter home demolition begins today

The demolition work will start on Tuesday and its cost will be met from the auction of goods in the home, municipal authorities said.

Decks have been cleared for the demolition of the infamous shelter home in Muzaffarpur, with the Supreme Court refusing to entertain a petition for stay filed by Brajesh Thakur, who is also the main accused in the case that involved alleged sexual exploitation of minor girls who used to stay there.

Sexual exploitation of girls in Muzaffarpur shelter home was revealed in a social audit report by a team from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, and submitted to the social welfare department. (HT Photo)

The demolition work will start on Tuesday and its cost will be met from the auction of goods in the home, municipal authorities said.

Thakur, who ran NGO Seva Sankalp Evam Vikas Samiti out of the shelter homes premises, had sought a stay against the November 10 demolition order issued by Muzaffarpur Municipal Commissioner (MMC), which had cited violations of building bylaws.

MMC Commissioner Sanjay Dubey on Monday said while the permission was taken to construct a one-storey building, three stories had been built.

The MMC has now written to Muzaffarpur SSP Manoj Kumar seeking adequate force to demolish the illegal portion of the shelter home building.

Earlier, MMC officials had submitted a detailed report to the state government about the illegal parts of the building. The authorities had given a month to the building owner, Manorama Devi, mother of Brajesh Thakur, to raze the illegal parts.

Dubey said that the CBI, who is probing the sensation case, had given its nod for demolition of the building and handed over keys to them on Monday evening.

Meanwhile, a CBI team on Friday carried out searches inside the shelter home to collect evidence.

The sexual exploitation of girls was revealed in a social audit report that a team of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai, had submitted to the social welfare department. An FIR was lodged on July 31 this year after medical examination confirmed that 34 girls were raped at the shelter home.