Nitish Kumar Orders CBI Probe Into Shelter Home Exploitation

Nitish Kumar Orders CBI Probe Into
Shelter Home Exploitation

New Delhi: The Nitish Kumar-led NDA government in Bihar on Thursday, 26^th July 2018 has ordered a CBI probe into sexual exploitation of inmates in a women's shelter home in the state.

The development comes a day after Leader of Opposition and RJD lawmaker Tejashwi Yadav alleged that Brajesh Thakur, the patron of an NGO which ran the shelter home, was associated with the chief minister's campaign team in Muzaffarpur during the last Lok Sabha elections. Yadav demanded a CBI probe into the matter.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday expressed concern over reports of girls being sexually abused in Bihar shelter homes and asserted that the Centre would consider a CBI enquiry once the State government made a request.

The RJD, on Wednesday, in the Bihar Assembly accused the ruling NDA of trying to influence the probe and demanded Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's resignation.

"In view of the spiralling rise in the incidence of crimes against women, especially young girls, we have decided to give slogan of 'NDA bhagao, beti bachao' during our statewide cycle rally beginning later this week", Tejashwi said.

Congress MLA Vijay Shankar Dubey also raised the issue in the House during the Question Hour and demanded a CBI probe.

More than 40 girls were lodged at the shelter home which was sealed in June this year when an FIR was lodged in the light of a social audit report by Mumbai's Tata Institute of Social Sciences which suggested that inmates were being sexually exploited.

The NGO running the shelter home has been blacklisted. All the girls have been shifted to shelter homes in other districts while the premises here have been sealed.