SC raps Bihar over shelter home funds
Court asks why there was no background check
NEW DELHI : The Supreme Court pulled up the Bihar government on Tuesday for failing to prevent the abuse at a shelter home in Muzaffarpur where most women and girls are suspected to have been raped. “You seem to be funding the activities (sexual abuse) there. You have been giving money to the NGO for running the shelter home and do not even check its background,” Justice Madan Lokur told the advocate appearing for Bihar.
The court also said it was concerned at the fact that rapes were happening “left, right and centre” in the country.
“Figures suggest four rapes take place daily and these are reported statistics. God knows how many go unreported,” Justice Lokur said.
The SC said Bengaluru’s National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences will deal with the psychiatric and mental health of the survivors. and Patna’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences will offer medical and clinical help. Mumbai’s Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) was given the task of looking into the social rehabilitation aspect. The court asked them to prepare a roadmap suggesting steps that could be taken to improve the condition of the children in such shelter homes.
Aparna Bhat, who is assisting the bench, informed that one of the girls from the shelter home has gone missing and demanded security for the survivors since they were to testify against influential accused.
TISS, which conducted an audit of 110 shelter homes in Bihar, said it had raised “grave concerns” in case of 15, including the one in Muzaffarpur.
Vrinda Grover, appearing for TISS, informed the court that penal action was necessary in some cases, while correctional measures had to be taken in others.
Kumar told the bench that criminal cases had been registered in connection with nine shelter homes. “With regard to six, we have initiated action against errant officers as the offences were minor in nature.”
The bench asked the Centre to provide a copy of a survey of 80009000 shelter homes across India and to make it public. It directed Bihar and the Centre to file affidavits giving updates by August 14 on the Muzzafarpur case.
Justice Lokur slammed Delhi Commission for Women chairperson Swati Maliwal for wanting to be heard in the matter. He asked her not to “politicize” the issue.
SC also ordered a blanket ban on the use of visuals of child sexual abuse victims in the media, including morphed, blurred pictures and videos.
A justice M B Lokur-led threejudge bench issued the directive to the print, electronic and social media asking them to refrain from publishing pictures of the victims while hearing a matter related to sexual abuse of girls at a government-run shelter home in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur.
On August 2, the court had restrained the media from publishing, printing or showing faces of children allegedly abused there. Justices Lokur and Deepak Gupta had taken cognizance of a letter written to them narrating the torture the children faced. “They (victims) cannot be compelled to relive the trauma again and again,” the court had said.