This story is from August 9, 2018

13 girls of Madhepura home shifted

13 girls of Madhepura home shifted
Picture used for representational purpose
PATNA: Thirteen girls of Madhepura short-stay home were shifted to a similar facility at Supaul on Tuesday evening on the directive of the Women Development Corporation (WDC).
The decision was taken by the department as the Madhepura shelter home had also figured in the social audit report of Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai, that exposed the Muzaffarpur shelter home horror story.
The medical examinations had confirmed sexual assault on at least 34 minor girls of Muzaffarpur children shelter home.
Madhepura district magistrate (DM) Navdeep Shukla on Wednesday confirmed that the Alpawas Grih run by NGO Mahila Vikas Samiti at Jaiprakash Nagar in the town was shut down. “The girls living here have been sent to Supaul on the basis of the TISS social audit report,” he said.
Before their shifting to Supaul, the medical examination of 13 girls was conducted at Madhepura sadar hospital. The official of ICDS (Integrated Child Development Services) said the medical examination was conducted as per standard operating procedure. There is a provision to conduct health check-up before moving any girl from one shelter home to another.
Of the 13 girls, nine are married. “They were sent here by the order of the court. Four girls, one each from Maharashtra and West Bengal and two from Bihar had been found stranded,” said the ICDS official, adding that the TISS report mentioned several flaws in the Madhepura short-stay home, like dingy rooms, sanitation problem and inadequate food among others issues. However, the official denied any sexual harassment of girls.
“One of the girls complained that she didn’t get proper meal at Madhepura short-stay home. The other girls had complained about poor food and sanitation problems,” said the official.
Social welfare department director Raj Kumar said action was taken on the TISS report. “TISS audited 110 shelter homes in Bihar in March and the report was released in May,” he said.
author
About the Author
Faryal Rumi

She is working with the Times of India as a Senior Digital Content Creator on the Patna desk.

End of Article
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA