11 women missing from home run by same NGO

MUZAFFARPUR: Bihar authorities have registered a first information report (FIR) against the Muzaffarnagar-based NGO Seva Sankalp Ewam Vikas Samiti (SSEVS), in connection with 11 women missing from a a shortstay shelter it runs for destitute women aged above 18 years.

Swadhar Griha, the short-stay home,is on Sahu Road, barely 200 metres away from the Balika Griha, also run by the NGO, where 34 of 42 inmates who were medically examined were found to have been raped.

At least 10 people, including Brajesh Thakur, operator of the NGO, have been arrested after investigating agencies discovered that a majority of the inmates of Balika Griha, a shelter home for destitute minor girls in the age group of seven to 17 years, being run on a campus owned by Thakur’s family, were sexually exploited, tortured and used as sex slaves.

Police said the social welfare department had also asked SSEVS to shut Swadhar a long time ago but it remained open.

Police said state social welfare department deputy director Divesh Chandra Sharma submitted a written complaint to the women’s police station house officer alleging that 11 destitute women were missing from the home. Confirming the registration of FIR, station house officer Jyoti Kumari said, “The officer, in his written complaint, alleged SSEVS ran the Swadhar Griha at its headquarters office on Sahu Road under Town police station. A social welfare department team visited the shelter home in March and found 11 women sheltered there missing. Another team that visited the home on June 9 also found the women inmates missing.” Kumari said, quoting the FIR, that on finding the women inmates missing, the officer sought instructions from his superior officers in Patna and then filed the complaint.

On May 31, the women’s police instituted a case against the NGO for alleged sexual exploitation of minor girls in Balika Griha. Soon after the FIR was lodged, the department shifted 46 inmates to three shelter homes in Madhubani, Patna and Mokama. They were sent for medical tests which found at least 34 out of 42 girls tested positive for rape; medical tests on two inmates could not be performed because of mental and physical disorders.