Official arrested for ‘sexually harassing’ inmates in Hajipur

THE ACCUSED OFFICIAL ALLEGEDLY VISITED THE HAJIPUR SHELTER HOME FOR INSPECTION AND MISBEHAVED WITH THE GIRLS STAYING THERE

HAJIPUR: The district programme manager (DPM) in charge of a short stay shelter home for girls in Bihar’s Hajipur was on Tuesday remanded in judicial custody over sexual harassment charges. Manmohan Prasad was picked up on Monday after the shelter home inmates accused him of harassment. He was detained overnight and arrested on Tuesday. The inmates had earlier told visiting officials that Prasad would often sexually harass them.

Hajipur station house officer Om Prakash said Prasad has been booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offence (Pocso) Act 2012.

Prasad had recently courted controversy when he recommended shifting of the Hajipur short stay home inmates to Samastipur against the wishes of the girls staying there

Prasad allegedly visited the shelter home for inspection and misbehaved with the girls. One of them told police officials that the accused would enter their rooms and ask them to press his feet. If they protested, the officer would bully them. An inmate said that he once tore the clothes of a girl, who resisted his advances.

Officials intervened and had medical tests of all inmates conducted. The reports are yet to be made public.

Prasad denied the allegations as “totally false” while he was being taken to jail.

“Preliminary inquiry has confirmed charges against the DPM to be true,” Vaishali SP MS Dhillon said.

Earlier, Vaishali district magistrate Rajiv Raushan had formed a 5-member team to conduct an inquiry and submit a report within a week ago. The panel submitted its 50 pages report last weekend in which they found much of the accusations against Prasad to be true.

Earlier, over 30 girls were found to have been sexually abused at a government-funded shelter in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur. While the case is now being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the Opposition parties have slammed the state’s Nitish Kumar-led government on the issue.

Mumbai’s Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) had earlier found inmates at 14 Bihar shelter homes faced abuse.