Bihar: Man asks shelter home girls to escape, arrested

PATNA: Close on the heels of the shelter home sex scandal in Muzaffarpur, police today arrested a 50-year-old man for allegedly asking the inmates of a state-run home here to escape, promising them gifts.

The police had received complaints from the inmates of the Aasra shelter home in the Nepali Nagar locality here that Ram Nagina Singh alias Banarasi, who lived nearby, was trying to persuade them to flee, Deputy Superintendent of Police (Law and Order), Patna, Manoj Kumar Sudhanshu said.

"We visited the shelter home and questioned the inmates and others. We also interrogated Banarasi. He was arrested and sent to jail. Security has been tightened around the shelter home," Sudhanshu told PTI.

Asked about Banarasi's motive, he said the matter was still under investigation.

"It appeared that he had, indeed, asked some of the girls to run away and promised them gifts," Sudhanshu said.

Over 30 girls were allegedly raped over a period of time at a state-funded shelter home in Muzaffarpur by the chief of the NGO that used to run the facility, which has since been closed.