Three people have been arrested in connection with the alleged rape of a former inmate of a Muzaffarpur shelter home in Bihar, PTI reported on Tuesday. Four men had allegedly raped the girl in a moving vehicle in Bettiah town in West Champaran district on Friday evening.

“The three accused persons arrested in the case are Saajan, Kundan and Akash, while another person has been detained for interrogation in the case,” Shashi Bhushan Thakur, the officer in charge of Bettiah town police station, told PTI. All the accused will be produced in a court after their interrogation.

Additional Director General Jitendra Kumar said medical reports revealed that the complainant was a minor. “She is between 15 and 17 years of age,” he told ANI.

In her complaint, the girl said the men then dropped her near her home after the assault. She alleged that the men, two of whom are brothers, belong to the same family.

The National Commission for Women has formed an inquiry committee. The committee, headed by the commission’s Chairperson Rekha Sharma, will travel to Bihar this week to meet the girl, the state police chief and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

The National Human Rights Commission has also asked for a detailed report from Bihar’s director general of police within four weeks, reported The Quint.

The Muzaffarpur shelter home made news last year after it emerged that more than 30 girls were allegedly sexually assaulted there. It came to light in April 2018 after Mumbai’s Tata Institute of Social Sciences submitted an audit report of 110 shelter homes in the state. The audit was ordered by the state government, which filed a first information report against 11 people in May 2018.

At least 34 inmates were allegedly drugged and raped, according to law enforcement agencies. The Central Bureau of Investigation – in its chargesheet filed in December – alleged that the main accused, Brajesh Thakur, had coerced girls to dance to vulgar songs and have sexual intercourse with guests. Thakur is in a high-security prison in Punjab at present.

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