Muzaffarpur rapes: Bihar Police say five more girls may have been sexually assaulted at shelter home
This takes the number of girls who may have been raped at the shelter to 34.
Bihar Police on Saturday said that 34 minor girls may have been raped at a shelter home in Muzaffarpur district, as against the earlier figure of 29.
Medical examinations of 44 girls last week had revealed that 29 of them were raped. However, a fresh medical report released by the Patna Medical College and Hospital showed the number could be 34.
“I have reviewed the report,” senior superintendent of police Harpreet Kaur said, according to Hindustan Times. “It has not ruled out the possibility of rape of five more girls. At least 34 girls have tested positive [of rape] till now, while medical reports have not confirmed rape on eight girls. Two girls were not taken before the medical board because they were mentally challenged.”
Deputy Superintendent of Police Mukul Kumar Ranjan said posters carrying pictures of Dilip Kumar Verma, the absconding chairperson of the child welfare committee, have been circulated.
An inmate of the state-run shelter home had earlier alleged that the body of a girl was buried on the premises. Ten of the eleven accused in the case have been arrested.
The sexual exploitation at the shelter home came to light after Mumbai’s Tata Institute of Social Sciences had reported it in its audit report. The institute submitted its report in April and the government filed a first information report on May 31, Social Welfare Department Principal Secretary Atul Prasad had said.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation into the case on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav said Bihar was under “demonic rule”, criticising the law and order situation in the state, News18 reported. “Several drugs and things related to abortion were being used at the shelter home,” he told reporters, according to ANI. “Still, the main suspect Brajesh Thakur is being protected by the government. When will he be arrested? Till when will minor girls be raped in the state?”