Bihar's Muzaffarpur shelter survivor abducted, gang-raped in car

PATNA: A former shelter home inmate, who had been reunited with her family on a court order after the Muzaffarpur Balika Grih sex scandal broke out in May last year, was gang-raped in a moving car on Bettiah-Pakhnaha road of West Champaran district on Friday night.
The 18-year-old, who had been shifted from Muzaffarpur Balika Grih to Mokama shelter home and later restored to her family in July last year, has identified two of the four tormentors.
Bettiah Child Protection Unit assistant director Mamta Jha said the girl has been living with her family since her reunion in July last year and nothing wrong happened with her during the period.Mamta said she met the rape survivor in the Bettiah government medical college and hospital on Sunday. “Her medical examination was conducted under the supervision of a team of doctors. The report is awaited,” she told this newspaper over phone from Bettiah.
The incident took place when the victim was on way to her sister in-law’s house under Bettiah town police station on foot. The tormentors dragged her inside the car and raped her before dropping the victim near her house. Distraught and frightened, the girl couldn’t muster courage to report the incident to the police immediately.
On Saturday, she reached the Bettiah town police station and narrated her ordeal. Bettiah Town SHO Shashi Bhushan Thakur said on Sunday the girl was admitted to the local government hospital for treatment under police protection. Her complaint was later forwarded to the women’s police station, which finally registered an FIR (No.14/19) against Akash Kumar, Raj Kumar, Dinanath Kumar and Kundan Kumar, all residents of Ilam Ram Chowk in Bettiah. Akash and Raj are stated to be brothers.
Surprisingly, the cops at the women’s police station preferred to send the victim to the Bettiah hospital for medical examination only on Sunday, more than 24 hours after she had reported the matter to the police.
Bettiah women’s police station SHO Poonam Kumari said the victim’s clothes have been preserved and would be sent to the forensic science laboratory for test. “Action against the accused would be taken after the receipt of the medical report, which is awaited,” she said.
“The girl was also paid Rs7 lakh as compensation after she returned home from the Mokama shelter home in Patna district,” a source said. While her father worked as a daily wager in Nepal, her mother is a housewife.
The Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), in its social audit report last year, had highlighted the physical, sexual and mental abuse of inmates at most of the shelter and short-stay homes in 35 districts, including Muzaffarpur where 34 girls were allegedly raped.
DIG (Bettiah range) Lalan Mohan Prasad, however, feigned ignorance about the incident. “I was busy in the meeting convened by the DGP, who visited the district headquarters town on Sunday,” Prasad told this newspaper over phone. Bettiah SP Jayant Kant couldn’t be contacted despite repeated attempts on his official cellphone number.
Locals said the rape survivor was hardly 13 years old when she had been first sent to the Muzaffarpur shelter home run by NGO Seva Sankalp Evam Vikas Samiti. Altogether 34 out of the 42 girl inmates of Balika Grih were allegedly raped. The case was handed over to the CBI on July 26 last year.
Last week, the Supreme Court, which is monitoring the case, directed the state government to hand over eight remaining inmates of the Balika Grih to their respective families.
(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme Court directives on cases related to sexual assault)