Muzaffarpur shelter home horror: Why have the culprits not been arrested yet?
Sooner they show some results, the better it will heal public conscience.
Though almost a month has passed since the CBI took up investigations into the Muzaffarpur shelter home sexual abuse case, the premier investigation agency has not really made any significant breakthrough so far.
The sensational Muzaffarpur shelter home case was registered on May 31 after police investigations and medical examination of the 42 inmates revealed that 34 girls had been drugged, tortured and repeatedly raped over many months.
Ten persons, including Brajesh Thakur who ran the social welfare department-sponsored NGO — Sewa Sankalp Evam Vikas Samiti — were arrested before the CBI took up the case on July 29. The police and CBI both have failed to arrest Dilip Kumar Verma, the absconding chairman of District Child Welfare Committee. Verma has been identified by some inmates as the “head sir” who sexually abused them.
The police had declared Verma a proclaimed absconder, but the man has succeeded to remain traceless even after the CBI took up the case.
Similarly, Madhu Kumari, a close associate of Brajesh Thakur too is absconding and CBI has failed to reach her.
Madhu, a director of Waha Shakti Vahini, was running a shelter home for adult destitute women in Muzaffarpur called Swadhar Grih, an institution that came under the scrutiny of the police following disappearance of 11 women from the shelter home.
A separate FIR has been lodged in the case.
Madhu has gone into hiding ever since her name figured in the abuse case. While the arrest of Verma and Madhu can help the CBI unravel various hidden layers of the case, the premier agency has also raised eyebrows by not having questioned Brajesh Thakur, currently in judicial custody.
“The CBI must take Brajesh Thakur on remand. Not questioning him is like giving Thakur, a long rope and breathing space to prepare his defence,” said a police officer in Patna.
So far, Brajesh Thakur has appeared ahead of the administration in the case. His son managed to sell a plot of land at Adampur Chhapra in Muzaffarpur town after an FIR was lodged against Brajesh’s NGO.
According to sources, Rahul sold the 11 cottah plot to 10 different persons for Rs 27.97 lakh, though the land’s market rate is not less than Rs 15 lakh per cottah.
Clearly, the Thakur’s family moved quickly to dispose the plot, fearing confiscation. The Muzaffarpur administration woke up only after the land deal was scripted.
As an afterthought, the Muzaffarpur administration has issued orders to prohibit individuals from purchasing assets belonging to Brajesh Thakur.
The only major operation by CBI in this case was visible on August 17 when the sleuths carried out simultaneous searches on 12 locations, including the official residence of former social welfare minister Kumari Manju Verma, in connection with the Muzaffarpur sexual abuse case.
The CBI sleuths quizzed Manju and her husband Chandeshwar Prasad Verma for over eight hours at their 6 Strand Road residence in the state capital.
The former minister’s personal assistant was also questioned at an undisclosed location. The couple’s house in Begusarai’s Cheria Bariyarpur too was searched following which 40 live cartridges were found.
A senior police officer in Patna, however, defended CBI.
“It’s not an easy case. Despite having sufficient evidences in the form of victims’ statements, the CBI has to move methodically to collect more evidence. The probe has to be widely scoped. It will look into the conspiracy angles as well. The CBI cannot ignore the fact that many welfare department officials must have helped Brajesh. Their job is to find out if it was for criminal intent or not,” the officer, a senior IPS, said on condition of anonymity.
While the CBI is taking its time, they must note that the sooner they show some results, the better it will heal public conscience, which stands shattered by Muzaffarpur abuse case.
(Courtesy of Mail Today)