Sorry State of Bihar Shelter Homes Exposed Again as 7 Girls Escape
Image Courtesy: Dailyhunt
Patna: Following the escape of seven girls from a short stay home shelter in Mokama in Patna district, Bihar, the laxity of the authorities in managing shelter homes has been exposed again. It has also brought the focus back to the fact that the state government is still not serious to take care of girls and women in shelter homes. Six out of the seven girls were recovered by the police from a village in Darbhanga within 24 hours.
It should be noted that among the seven girls who escaped, five had earlier alleged sexual abuse at the infamous Muzaffarpur shelter home in Bihar last year and were also witnesses in the case.
This shelter home is run by an NGO, like most of the shelter homes, and supported and sponsored by the state government.
On Sunday, February 25, IG (Patna range) Sunil Kumar, visited the shelter home named Children’s Home for Girls run by the Nazareth Hospital in Mokama, about 100 km from Patna, for initial investigation. A district police officer, who was part of the investigation team led by Sunil said, “We have identified two suspected male staff of the shelter home, who helped the girls to escape through the gate. Girls did not escape by cutting grill of window.”
The police officer also said, “We have recovered six of the seven girls from a village in Darbhanga district. But there is no information about the whereabouts of the seventh girl.”
According to police sources, the missing girl is a prime witness in the Muzaffarpur shelter home rape case. The police officer said, “It was the girl whose revelations had shocked even the police. She had made it clear in her statement that top and powerful officers and politicians used to visit the shelter home in Muzaffarpur.”
The police believe that the missing girl who belonged to Dinajpur in West Bengal may have returned to her native village. So, a police team has been sent to Dinajpur to trace her and a SIT has also been set for the case, officials confirmed.
The six girls, after being recovered by police, disclosed that after escaping from the shelter home, they went to Mokama railway station, boarded the Patna-Jaynagar intercity express and reached Sakri station from where they went to the home of one of the girls belonging to a village in Darbhanga.
Shelter Homes or Jails?
Five girls of the seven escaped, who had been shifted to Mokama following sexual abuse and torture in the Muzaffarpur shelter home case, were not comfortable even in the new shelter home. The shelter home in Mokama is run for the victims of human trafficking and victims of domestic or other abuse and crimes.
“These girls were desperate to return to their homes. They were under stress and restless, and were adamant not to stay at this shelter home. Last week, a girl tried to commit suicide by cutting her wrist. But all this was ignored by the authorities managing shelter home,” a police officer in Mokama told NewsClick over telephone.
“Last week on February 17 and 20, these girls protested inside the shelter home and demanded to allow them to get back to their homes but the employees of shelter hone neglected them. Some girls even expressed their anger and unhappiness when a team of doctor visited the shelter home to counsel the girl who tried to end her life. But their genuine grievances hardly came to the notice of the concerned officers. They continued to be neglected, leading to the girls running away,” another local police officer said.
He added, “No one, not even the police were allowed to meet the girls in the recent months as the shelter home authorities were afraid of their rebellion as they wanted to get back to their families.”
After the six girls were recovered and handed over to the Patna police, they were shifted to the Asha Kiran Shelter home for minor girls at Patliputra colony in Patna. Ironically, four girls between the age of 12 and 16 years, had escaped from this shelter home in November last year.
Also Read: Bihar Shelter Homes Scandal: TISS Report Depicts the Shocking State of Affairs
The shelter home, run by an NGO called Mashal, had also drawn flak last year when it refused to keep the inmates of Muzaffarpur Balika Grih who were being shifted out after the sexual harassment case came to light.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Manoj Kumar Chandravanshi said the security around shelter homes run by NGOs across Bihar draws attention only after girls escape. He also said that these latest reports of girls escaping from shelter homes are not new.
Last year in August, a minor girl, who was a witness in the Muzaffarpur Balika Grih sexual exploitation case and was among over three dozen girls shifted to a shelter home in Madhubani, had gone missing.
Later in September 2018, a woman fled from a shelter home in Patna. Two minor girls escaped from another government-funded short-stay home in Khagaria district in October 2018.
CM’s Promises Unfulfilled
Soon after the Muzaffarpur Balika Grih sexual exploitation hit headlines, none other than Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who claimed that he was ashamed of it, had announced that the Bihar government will take over the running of short-stay homes, shelter homes and other such facilities in the state, from the NGOs.
Nitish Kumar had also suggested to officials that engaging NGOs to run shelter homes was not right. These should be operated by government agencies. The suggestion had been accepted and will be implemented in a phase-wise manner.
He said the state government will construct buildings for shelter homes and employ its own staff to manage them. The chief minister said the system practised across the country for shelter facilities was flawed. He said there were several deficiencies in the system though it had been in place for a long time.
But it appears that Nitish Kumar has forgotten his own announcements and the proposal of government-run shelter homes in place of NGOs has not seen the light of the day.
Also Read: Muzaffarpur Shelter Home Case: Court Orders CBI Probe Against Nitish Kumar
Early this month, nearly 10 days after the Supreme Court transferred the trial in the Muzaffarpur shelter home case related to the alleged sexual abuse of 34 minor girls from Bihar to Delhi, a special Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) court in Muzaffarpur has directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to conduct a probe against Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and two senior IAS officers.
The alleged sexual abuse of 34 minor girls at the Muzaffarpur shelter home run by an NGO run by key accused in the case, Brajesh Thakur, came to light in May 2018 after a social audit report prepared by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) went public, after which the Bihar Social Welfare Department filed an FIR.
The matter was handed over to the CBI in July last year. After hue and cry by the Opposition and media reports that her husband had close links with main accused Brajesh Thakur, Bihar Social Welfare Minister Manju Verma was forced to resign.
Thakur has since been shifted to a jail in Patiala following the order of the Supreme Court even as the other accused, including his close aides and some government officials, are lodged in jails in Patna and Muzaffarpur.
The apex court had recently also directed the CBI to take over the probe into allegations of sexual abuse at all such shelter homes across the state.
Read More: Deoria Shelter Home: 18 Girls Missing, Allegations of a Sex Racket Being Run by the Owners
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