Muzaffarpur Shelter Home Rape: SC pulls up Bihar government for funding Brajesh Thakur’s NGO

The Supreme Court on Tuesday slammed Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government for funding the NGO running Muzaffarpur shelter home, where 34 girls were allegedly raped and sexually assaulted.

Referring to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, the apex court said that every six hours a woman is raped in India. Taking strong exception to the recent incidents of mass rape and sexual assault in BJP ruled Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, the court said that women in India were being raped "left, right and centre".

An Amicus Curiae appointed in the case told the court that the JDU-BJP government in Bihar didn’t pay any compensation to the alleged victims of rape and sexual assaults at Muzaffarpur shelter home.

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Last week, the apex court had taken suo moto cognizance of the case and asked Bihar and Narendra Modi-led central government to submit a detailed reply on why they failed to stop the minor girls from being raped in Muzaffarpur.

The chargesheet filed in the case revealed a network of police, politicians, administration and criminals behind the sex racket that had been going on for around four years.

The victims revealed macabre details about the case. They said that girls, as young as seven, were drugged, scalded with boiling water, raped and forced to sleep naked with the “hunterwala uncle” Brajesh Thakur, the owner of the shelter home and a powerful name in the power corridors of Patna.

Thakur is among the 10 people arrested so far in connection with the case. The Opposition RJD, however, alleged that several ministers of the ruling government were closely linked to Thakur. The party even claimed that one of the state cabinet minister’s husband was a frequent visitor to the shelter home.