Bihar court orders CBI probe against CM Nitish Kumar in shelter home case

A court in Bihar has ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation to initiate probe against Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in Muzaffarpur shelter home sex scandal, news agency PTI reported. The inmates living at the shelter home last year alleged physical abuse by the owner and others.

The order was passed by a special POCSO court in Muzaffarpur on an application filed by one of the accused, Ashwani, a self-styled medical practitioner. He allegedly used to inject the inmates with sedatives before they were subjected to sexual abuse.

Ashwani alleged in his petition that the CBI was “suppressing facts” in course of the investigation. He argued that the facts could come to light if the roles of Nitish Kumar and several officers including former district magistrate of Muzaffarpur Dharmendra Singh were probed, a PTI report said.

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court had rebuked the Bihar government over incomplete information of the status of shelter homes in the state. The court also transferred trial in Muzaffarpur shelter home case to Saket court in Delhi.

The apex court set a deadline of six months for completion of trial in the Muzaffarpur shelter home case. The court stated that no extension of time should be sought.

The Muzaffarpur shelter home incident came to the light following an audit report by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS). Commissioned by the Bihar government, it submitted its report in April 2018. It put the 17 shelter homes in Bihar under the category of ‘Grave Concerns’.

In January this year, the CBI registered two more FIRs related to cases of alleged abuse of children in shelter homes in Gaya and Bhagalpur districts of the state. This came after a Supreme Court directive to the CBI asking it to probe alleged abuse of inmates at all 17 shelter homes.

First Published: Feb 16, 2019 15:48 IST