advertisement
The Supreme Court, on Wednesday, 28 November, ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to take over the investigation into the sexual exploitation of inmates in 17 state-run shelter homes of Bihar’s Muzaffarpur.
The CBI, according to The Times of India, has told the Supreme Court that the charge sheet will be filed on 7 December.
The Bihar government has, however, opposed the CBI probe in all the shelter home cases – it has pleaded the Supreme Court to grant it the last opportunity to prove that the government is committed to catch the culprits, further seeking 10 days to file the status report.
According to News18.com, the apex court said, “The state's attitude is extremely unfortunate and tragic to say the least. This is inhuman and shameless... A child is sodomised and the state does nothing. You don’t even care to register FIRs properly. There are 17 shelter homes where allegations of sexual abuse were cited in the TISS report. Why should each case not be investigated? Are these children lesser citizens of the country?”
The matter will be taken up again on Wednesday, 28 November.
"We were told that matter will be looked with great seriousness, this is seriousness? This file, it’s tragic,” the court added. It questioned the registration of FIRs only under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) and not under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The court appeared to be inclining to hand over the probe in the case to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
According to the 100-page report submitted to the Social Welfare Department, the Muzaffarpur shelter home run by Brajesh Thakur had been "running in a highly questionable manner along with grave instances of violence. Several girls reported about violence and being abused sexually".
Some of them also complained that they had been brought there on the "pretext of being given work."
Older boys were clubbed in with younger ones for accommodation. Boys from both the groups reported "sexual abuse and violence," the report alleged.
In the Bhagalpur district, "grave abuse" was reported in the Boys' Children Home. When the team wanted the "complaint box" to be opened, the keys were said to have been misplaced. Those were later produced and the box was opened.
In the Munger district, inmates of the Boys' Children Home run by NGO 'Panaah' were being forced to work in residential quarters of the superintendent. On refusal to do so, they were beaten up.
A resident of the home showed "a three inch long scar across his cheek" as he was beaten up by the superintendent, it alleged.
In the Gaya district, the Boys' Children Home was running in a "custodial and exploitative manner". The boys were locked up. Some of them complained that some female staff members were forcing them to write lewd messages for another female staff member, it alleged.
Three specialised adoption agencies- 'Nari Gunjan' at Patna, 'RVESK' at Madhubani and 'Gyan Bharti' at Kaimur were found "running in a condition that is likely to be life-threatening", the report alleged.
A security guard at a government-run observation home at Araria was reportedly carrying out extreme violence against boys. The superintendent expressed helplessness about it since the guard was from the Bihar Police, the report alleged.
At 'IKARD' in Patna, a girl unable to cope with violent atmosphere committed suicide about a year ago, while another lost her "mental balance from the trauma she suffered there", the report alleged.
The Social Welfare Department has suspended a number of officials for 'dereliction of duty' in not reporting such shortcomings in their inspection reports. The TISS report said it was necessary to "engage with the residents with a sense of empathy".
In the Observation Home in Darbhanga, there was no violence. The team saw there "a beautifully maintained kitchen and a flower garden". The inmates were particularly fond of the superintendent, who often doubled as their teacher. It also had arrangements for outdoor games like volley ball and badminton.
Similarly, the children home in Buxur have managed to create a positive environment simply with the "staff's involvement with children beyond mandatory responsibilities". Specialised adoption centre in Saran was a "well maintained facility with decent infrastructure and a team of dedicated staff", it said.
(With inputs from News18.com, The Times of India and PTI)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)