Bihar Shelter Home Case: RJD Demands Resignation of Nitish Kumar

CBI reportedly said that it has “excavated bundle of bones from a burial ground at the instance of a co-accused.”

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. 

(File Photo: IANS)

The RJD on Saturday, 4 May, demanded the resignation of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in view of the CBI's revelation in the Supreme Court that 11 minor girls were allegedly murdered in the Muzaffarpur shelter home where a sex scandal has broken out in 2018.

If Kumar does not quit on his own, the RJD said, Governor Lalji Tandon should dismiss his government for its inability to protect the lives of 11 inmates of the state aided shelter home.

The party of Lalu Prasad stepped up its offensive against the Bihar government a day after the CBI, in an affidavit, told the apex court that 11 girls were murdered by Brajesh Thakur, the key accused in the Muzaffarpur home sex scandal case, and his accomplices, and "bundle of bones" were recovered from a burial ground inside it.

"We request the governor to sack the Nitish Kumar government immediately following its involvement in the Muzaffarpur shelter home case," RJD Leader Tejashwi Yadav tweeted.

In another tweet, he said, "If there is any shame left in Nitish Kumar, he should tender an apology since evidence has been found in Muzaffarpur shelter home case. Why would Nitish Kumar go to Brajesh Thakur's home at Muzaffarpur?" The leader of Opposition in Bihar Assembly also asked, why an FIR was not lodged initially against Thakur, and when it was lodged, why he was not booked under the POCSO act.

RJD national spokesman Manoj Jha, who held a press conference on the issue, said Kumar should resign on his own and if he does not resign, the governor should sack him.

"After the CBI's confirmation that 11 out of 42 minor girls were murdered at the shelter home, the chief minister has no moral right to continue in the post," he said.

"We demand that Nitish Kumar resign taking up moral responsibility in the matter. If he does not resign, the governor should sack his government," Jha said.

Asked whether the RJD will approach the governor to press for the demand, Jha said the party will wait till 6 May, when the matter will be heard again in the apex court.

Tejashwi, through his tweets, also wanted to know whether the 11 missing girls of the shelter home were buried after being killed as it appeared that they were not cremated following Hindu traditions.Tejashwi claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not utter a single word on this issue as Kumar and several BJP ministers in Bihar government are involved in it.

‘Probing Murder of 11 Girls’: CBI Tells Supreme Court

The alleged murder of as many as 11 girls by prime accused Brajesh Thakur and others in the Muzaffarpur shelter home case is under probe, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) told the Supreme Court in an affidavit on Friday, 3 May.

The investigating agency also said that it has “excavated bundle of bones from a burial ground at the instance of a co-accused.”

The affidavit also stated that a total of 35 girls with identical or similar names had lived there at one point of time or the other and that a “field-level verification” about their existence was on.

A part of the affidavit which states that the CBI is probing murder.(Photo: The Quint)

Read the full affidavit here.

The Supreme Court has adjourned the matter to Monday, 6 May. It has issued a formal notice and allowed the petitioner and others to file their replies to the CBI’s affidavit.

Earlier, the counsel representing the petitioner in the case, Bihar chapter of South Asia Women in Media, reportedly said that despite the SC bench’s order of completing the investigation within six months, the CBI has not probed the alleged murder of the girls.

What is the Case About?

Several girls were allegedly raped and sexually abused at an NGO-run shelter home at Muzaffarpur in Bihar and the issue had come to light following a report by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS).

Brajesh Thakur, owner of the NGO which ran the home, and around 20 other people have been named as accused.

Thakur owned the NGO Seva Sankalp Evam Vikas Samiti, which ran the shelter home located inside the premises of a Hindi daily he edited, adjacent to his own residence. He is currently lodged in a jail at Patiala after a direction to the effect was issued to the CBI by the Supreme Court.

The probe into the case was transferred to CBI and the agency has charge-sheeted 21 people, including Brajesh Thakur who, as the head of an NGO, used to run the home.