HOW THE HORROR UNFOLDED

July 2017: Tata Institute of Social Sciences is commissioned by the Bihar government to conduct a social audit of 110 shelter homes run or supported by it across the state.

October 2017: A seven-member TISS team arrives in Bihar to start the audit. They camp in the state for seven months.

27 April 2018: TISS submits its 100-page audit report to the social welfare department, singling out Balika Grih in Muzaffarpur for grave instances of sexual violence against minor girls. 25 May: The social welfare department calls for an internal meeting .

May 30: 46 inmates of Balika Grih are evacuated, divided up and shifted to shelter homes in Patna, Madhubani and Mokama. May 31: An FIR is registered in Muzaffarpur’s women’s police station against 11 people involved with the shelter home including the prime accused, Brajesh Thakur, the owner of the NGO who ran it. June 2: Brajesh Thakur is arrested from his house in Muzaffarpur which is in the same premises as Balika Grih.

June 14: Balika Grih is sealed by Bihar’s women and child development ministry. July 26: Bihar government recommends a CBI probe into the case.

July 29: A new FIR is lodged against Brajesh Thakur in connection with 11 women missing from another shelter home his NGO ran in Muzaffarpur.

August 2: The Supreme Court seeks answers from centre and state governments about the investigations into the case.