Storm over rape-murders in girls’ home in Bihar

patna — The alleged rape-murders of inmates of a girls’ home in Muzaffarpur has triggered a major storm in Bihar with former Chief Minister and RJD leader Rabri Devi on Monday demanding a CBI probe and alleging that the accused had links with the ruling JD-S and government officials.

Muzaffarpur district magistrate Mohd Sohail on Monday said the authorities have started digging work at Balika Grih, a short-stay home for girls.

Muzaffarpur Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Harpreet Kaur said an inmate recorded her statement before a judicial magistrate recently as required under the law.

The SSP said two girls who had alleged that a girl was buried after she was raped and killed were present at the digging site. “It was they (the two girls) who had identified the place at Balika Grih, where a girl is allegedly buried,” Kaur said.

She said the shelter home had been sealed for over a month after allegations of sexual abuse of the girls came to light during a social audit conducted by the Tata Institute

of Social Sciences, Mumbai.

The report of the audit was submitted to the social welfare department, which directed the local officials to lodge a complaint.

According to another official, efforts are on to exhume the bodies of girls who were allegedly killed after being raped and buried there. —