After reports of rape, murder, Bihar cops dig up Muzaffarpur shelter home

Weeks after a report unearthed the rampant sexual abuse in the shelter homes of Bihar, a court ordered excavation is being carried out in one such institution to find the remains of a woman inmate. The woman is believed to have been killed and buried in the premises. The court ordered excavation on the basis of an eyewitness account by a woman who saw her fellow inmate being battered to death for resisting sexual abuse. Sources said that two other former inmates are being brought to the shelter home in Muzaffarpur to identify this spot. Five other women inmates, who had disappeared from the premises, are suspected to have been murdered and burnt for similar reasons. A PIL is also being filed in the Patna High Court, requesting a CBI inquiry into the cases of sexual abuse and rape being reported from shelter homes run by NGOs. The government administration has announced formation of a special cell, which would monitor the activities of 104 remand shelter homes for children. After reports of sexual exploitation of inmates, the department has transferred the girls to other shelter homes in the state and lodged a case against the NGO under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. It has also cancelled the allotment of other centres and an old-age home in Muzaffarpur run by the same NGO, and recommended cancellation of its registration and suspended the assistant director of the department who was posted there. It has issued show-cause to all officials posted in child protection units since 2013.​ Source : News18