No let up in Nitish's woes over errant shelter homes

Patna: With names of the ruling JD(U)’s  leaders surfacing in shelter home rape  and death cases, the Opposition parties in Bihar plan to intensify their demand for the resignation of chief minister Nitish Kumar.

Earlier this week, senior JD(U) leader Shyam Rajak and public health and engineering department (PHED) minister Vinod Narayan Jha’s photographs with Manisha Dayal, one of the main accused in the Patna shelter home case, had created a nationwide flutter.

Manisha along with one of her accomplices, Chitranjan Kumar, was arrested for neglecting medical treatment of two inmates who had died in Patna last Saturday.

Although both the NDA leaders have denied their links with Manisha and her shelter home, the Opposition parties blamed leaders associated with the ruling alliance for shielding “big political faces” involved in the case.

A week earlier, social welfare minister Manju Verma had to resign from her post amid uproar over sexual abuse of minor girls in the Muzaffarpur shelter home. She had been in the eye of the storm after the name of her husband Chandeshwar Verma surfaced in the case.

On Monday, a government employee was arrested for alleged sexual abuse of seven minor girls at a short stay home at Hajipur.

Manmohan Prasad Singh, working as a programme manager with the Women Development Corporation under the social welfare department, was arrested after medical examination report confirmed sexual assault.

According to Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) chief Jitan Ram Manjhi, “Pieces of evidence against leaders associated with the ruling alliance are emerging every day, but chief minister Nitish Kumar is not taking any action against them. Manju Verma resigned because of political pressure. Nitish Kumar should also take responsibility for shelter home incidents.”

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav also threatened to launch a statewide agitation against the government’s failure in stopping such incidents.

The Opposition parties have been holding rallies against the state government’s failure in preventing incidents of sexual abuse at shelter homes in Bihar. Opposition leaders had earlier also hinted at using the shelter home incidents as an agenda against Nitish Kumar and his government in the 2019 general elections.

The alleged sexual abuse at various shelter homes of the state was first highlighted in the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) audit report that was submitted to the social welfare department. The report had exposed the vulnerability of 15 state-run shelter homes being run in agreement with NGOs.

The police report suggests that 34 minor girls were brutally raped at a shelter home in Muzaffarpur which was being run by Brajesh Thakur. Last week, two inmates of Patna-based Aasra shelter home had died under mysterious circumstances. A police investigation has been launched to find out the reasons.  

Murky incidents at Muzaffarpur emerged when survivors narrated the details of torture that they went through before being raped by officials and employees of the facility.

The victims, including handicapped girls, were subjected to brutality and even thrashed when they tried to raise their voices against employees of the shelter home.

Victims even showed injury marks to the authorities claiming that they were beaten up. with iron rods and made to sit naked for hours.