Bihar: Six of seven girls found hours after fleeing shelter-home
What's the story
Seven minor girls escaped from a care unit at Mokama town, Patna in the early hours yesterday following which six of them were found in Darbhanga district, police said.
The girls were found in Gangauli village "under the Sakatpur police station area late in the evening," said Darbhanga Senior Superintendent of Police Babu Ram.
They have been taken into custody for interrogation, Ram added.
Details
Police team from Patna had come to search missing girls
Ram said a police team had come from Patna district in search of the missing girls based on the inputs that they had gathered during the investigation.
One of the girls belonged to Gangauli village.
The girl, along with five others, was found at the village and the visiting police team has taken them into custody for interrogation, the SSP confirmed.
Protest
Opposition parties flay Bihar government; claim escape was a 'conspiracy'
Meanwhile, Opposition parties flayed the NDA government in Bihar, alleging that five of the girls were "witnesses" in the sex scandal being probed by the CBI under the supervision of the Supreme Court, and claimed their escape was a "conspiracy" hatched by the ruling dispensation to protect "big shots".
Social Welfare Department Director Raj Kumar gave an insight as to how the girls escaped.
How?
The girls escaped after cutting grills of a window
"They (the girls) are said to have fled after cutting the grill of a window at about 3 am. They were under treatment for their violent behaviour," said Raj Kumar.
It is yet to be ascertained whether the girls included former inmates of the Muzaffarpur Balika Grih, Kumar further said.
Deputy Inspector General (Patna) Rajesh Kumar also reached the spot for inspection.
Opposition
Witnesses of Muzaffarpur have been made to disappear, alleges Tejashwi
Sniffer dogs and forensic experts were pressed into service to trace the girls who had fled the home.
Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition in state Assembly, Tejashwi Yadav tweeted, "Five witnesses of the Muzaffarpur rape case have been made to disappear from Mokama shelter home to protect the chief minister and the government machinery."
Yadav's mother, Rabri Devi also attacked Nitish Kumar.
Twitter Post
Tejashwi took a jibe at Nitish Kumar and his government
मुख्यमंत्री समेत पूरे तंत्र को बचाने के लिए मुजफ्फरपुर बलात्कार कांड की 5 गवाह लड़कियां मोकामा शेल्टर होम से ग़ायब की गयी। भगवान इन अनाथ बच्चियों को दरिंदों से बचाए। काले पाप से किए काले मुँह को बचाने के लिए सत्ताधारियों को क्या-क्या नहीं करना पड़ रहा है?https://t.co/rnepjVsNuj
— Tejashwi Yadav (@yadavtejashwi) February 23, 2019
Court hearing
Girls went missing a few hours before hearing in Muzaffarpur-case
Rabri Devi, who is the leader of the opposition in the Legislative Council, said, "Chief Minister Nitish Kumar should tell us why he is so scared."
The girls went missing a few hours before hearing in the Muzaffarpur case commenced at a Delhi court, where trial was transferred from the north Bihar town following a Supreme Court order earlier this month.
Attack
'Government facilitated escape since SC, CBI questioning CM in scandal'
RLSP (Rashtriya Lok Samta Party) chief Upendra Kushwaha slammed the Nitish Kumar government over the incident.
"It appears that the girls have not fled of their own accord, but their escape has been facilitated by the government since the Supreme Court and the CBI have questioned the role of the chief minister in the scandal," Kushwaha pointed out in a tweet.
Twitter Post
Kushwaha demands Nitish's resignation citing life threats to other girls
#Muzaffarpur कांड की ये पीड़िताएँ फरार नही हुई है बल्कि प्रतीत होता कि सरकार द्वारा गायब कराई गई है। इस अपराध में #सीबीआई और सुप्रीम कोर्ट सीधे तौर पर मुख्यमंत्री जी को दोषी मान रही है।
— Upendra Kushwaha (@UpendraRLSP) February 23, 2019
श्री @NitishKumar जी अविलंब इस्तीफा दें, क्योंकि आपसे अन्य बच्चियों के जान को भी खतरा है। https://t.co/VADZF3Ypdo
Comments
'SC should take note of disappearance of girls from Mokama'
Congress MLC Prem Chandra Mishra said, "It appears that attempts are being made to save some people in the Muzaffarpur case. The Supreme Court should take note of the disappearance of girls from Mokama."
Hindustani Awam Morcha president and former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi alleged that the chief minister and Bihar DGP Gupteshwar Pandey be held accountable for the disappearance of the seven girls.
The case
The shelter home scandal came to light in May 2018
Manjhi said the disappearance "has been made possible to affect the probe into Muzaffarpur sex scandal".
The scandal had come to light in May last year after an FIR was lodged by the Social Welfare Department based on the social audit report of Mumbai-based Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS).
Over 30 girls were lodged at the shelter-home when the scandal came to light.
Reports
Most of the girls were subjected to sexual-abuse: Medical examination
Medical examinations confirmed that most of them had been subjected to sexual abuse.
The shelter-home was subsequently sealed and its inmates were moved to care units in Madhubani, Patna and Mokama.
The case was later handed over to CBI on the recommendation of the state government which, thereafter, decided to give up the practice of awarding contracts for running shelter homes to state-funded NGOs.