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Sexual exploitation of inmates of the Muzaffarpur shelter home came to light more than a month ago in a report of a Mumbai-based social science institute which had conducted an audit of the state-funded establishment run by an NGO.
PATNA: Shocking facts are now emerging in the Muzaffarpur shelter home sexual abuse case where more than 40 minor girls were allegedly sexually assaulted over a period of time.
The young victims were allegedly forced to sleep naked inside the short stay home by a lady teacher, Kiran, sources told Zee Media.
According the girls, Kiran would also get naked and sleep alongside four to five girls.
Authorities have also launched a search inside the premises for the body of an inmate who was allegedly beaten to death by staff members following a disagreement with staff members.
Cops decided to take the step after one of the victims claimed that the remains of a girl were buried underground within the compound during interrogation.
Sexual exploitation of inmates of the Muzaffarpur shelter home came to light more than a month ago in a report of a Mumbai-based social science institute which had conducted an audit of the state-funded establishment run by an NGO.
More than 10 people, including all staff members of the shelter home and some government officials, have so far been arrested in this connection while all the inmates have been shifted to other districts.
Meanwhile, Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, the Leader of Opposition in Bihar Assembly, attacked the Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government for its “failure” to protect the girls at a shelter home at Muzaffarpur and in other places.
The senior RJD leader alleged that the state government was protecting the accused persons.
“Since March, Bihar Govt is aware about repeated rapes committed against 40 minor inmates of Muzaffarpur shelter home by politicians, officials for years. Many had forced abortions. No action has been taken but cover up is on at war footing,” the RJD leader said in a release.
He further alleged that that “40 minor girls of 7 to 17 year were repeatedly raped under one roof for months in a state sponsored shelter home. The patron of the NGO is close to whos who of government… After the disclosure, few girls went missing, a girl was found murdered, buried.”

The Supreme Court on Monday said that there cannot be any ‘blanket ban’ on holding protests at Jantar Mantar and Boat Club in Delhi.
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday said that there cannot be any ‘blanket ban’ on holding protests at Jantar Mantar and Boat Club in Delhi.
The National Green Tribunal had in October 2017 banned all protests and dharnas around the historic Jantar Mantar area saying such activities violate environmental laws. The NGT had said that the State had totally failed to protect the right of enjoying pollution-free environment of the citizens living in the Jantar Mantar Road area, close to Connaught Place in the heart of the city.
Lashing out at the State, it had said that steps should be taken to ensure that the rights of the people to live a peaceful and comfortable life are not infringed by those who create noise pollution in the name of the right of freedom of speech and expression.
The PIL before the high court had said that the residents have been left “disgusted and distressed by processions and agitations held by social groups, political parties, NGOs at Jantar Mantar road which continue throughout the day, 365 days a year”.
Petitioner advocate Rajiv Singh had highlighted that due to unique position of current protest venue being situated at the corner of intersection of Tolstoy Road, Parliament Street and Jantar Mantar road “almost every day, various processions, demonstrations are held on Jantar Mantar road, which are primarily aimed at going towards Parliament House”.
The petitioners, residents of the area, had further blamed the Delhi Police for diverting the protests to Jantar Mantar Road.
Later, the Delhi High Court also disposed of a PIL seeking direction to prohibit holding of dharna and restraining them from “shouting slogans, distributing pamphlets and littering at Jantar Mantar road”.
“In view of the recent National Green Tribunals (NGT) order prohibiting protests at Jantar Mantar, the prayer raised in the writ petition stands satisfied. Now no further order is required. The petition is disposed of,” the HC bench had said.

Work on several projects, which are part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), has been stalled in Pakistan reportedly because of financial constraints. According to Pakistan-based Dawn News, the National Highway Authority in the country is under financial crisis and hence the work on several projects has been stalled.
Work on several projects, which are part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), has been stalled in Pakistan reportedly because of financial constraints. According to Pakistan-based Dawn News, the National Highway Authority in the country is under financial crisis and hence the work on several projects has been stalled.
The report said that cheques worth Rs 5 billion had bounced, following which the contractors decided to stop work on the road projects, which are crucial for the success and completion of the CPEC project.
Though there have been reports of threats to CPEC projects in the past, this is for the first time that they have been hit by financial crunch. As per Dawn News, the projects stalled are Hakla-Dera Ismail Khan, Western route of CPEC and Karachi-Lahore Motorway.
This comes months after China had raised concerns over political instability in Pakistan hitting CPEC projects. China had also raised concerns over the financial climate in Pakistan.
“In the past few years, investors from both China and Pakistan got too excited about the CPEC, and they overlooked the problems with the Pakistan economy,” Mei Xinyu, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Cooperation, had told the state-run Global Times in May.
“Now, they need to carefully assess potential risks in some projects, and Pakistan’s ability to repay its debts,” he had said.
The observations by the expert came after Pakistan asked China for fresh loans worth $2billion, even as Chinese banks had given $1 billion loan to the neighbouring country in the month of April.

The government is considering another option of drafting a model law, which can be adopted by states to prevent incidents of mob lynching.
In its attempt to keep a check on increasing incidents of mob lynching, Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government at the Centre is exploring the possibility of making amendments in the Indian Penal Code. According to a senior official, the government intends to define mob lynching as a penal offence.
Besides, the government is considering another option of drafting a model law, which can be adopted by states to prevent incidents of mob lynching. The official said that the discussions for the same are in “preliminary state”, in the wake of the Supreme Court’s order directing Centre to formulate a new law.
The government is considering the option of making amendments to the Indian Penal Code so that it does not require to bring in a new standalone law to tackle the menace.
The catch, however, in this option is that if the burden to prove innocence is put on the accused, it would require amendments in certain sections of the Criminal Procedure Code and the Indian Evidence Act.
As per the government official, it will take several days before the government firms up its stand.
Apart from these, the central government is also likely to further strengthen the framework concerning social media in order to ensure that rumours that trigger such incidents are checked.
Several cases of lynching and mob violence have been reported from across the country in the recent past. The latest such incident took place in Alwar in Rajasthan where a 28-year-old Muslim man, named Akbar Khan, was beaten to death by an angry mob on the suspicion of being a cow smuggler. The police have arrested two suspects in connection with the case even as the Rajasthan government has assured proper investigation and stringent action.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje had also condemned the incident and assured stern action against the culprits.

The incident took place in Harsh Vihar near Dwarka at around 1 am on Monday.
NEW DELHI: Two people have been killed and at least three have been injured after the roof of a house collapsed in Delhi. The incident took place in Harsh Vihar near Dwarka at around 1 am on Monday.
The incident comes hours after another five-storey under-construction building collapsed in Ghaziabad on Sunday. At least two people were killed and seven were injured in the mishap. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had ordered an inquiry into the incident. A magisterial probe has also been initiated into the collapse of the illegal structure in the Akash Nagar area.
Just a week ago, a six-storey under-construction building had collapsed on another five-storey building in Greater Noida bringing down both of the buildings. The twin-building collapse in Shahberi village had claimed nine lives, including that of a toddler and two women.

A woman stuck in the middle of Shankh river in Simdega in Jharkhand after overnight efforts by police and other locals. The woman was stranded due to heavy flow of water in the river since Sunday evening and was be rescued on Monday morning by three local men.
A woman stuck in the middle of Shankh river in Simdega in Jharkhand after overnight efforts by police and other locals. The woman was stranded due to heavy flow of water in the river since Sunday evening and was be rescued on Monday morning by three local men.
The three youth who played a crucial role in the rescue operation are Rakesh Nayak, Raju Oraon and Sukhlal Gosain.
Police personnel involved in the rescue operation could not get into the river since Sunday evening because of heavy flow of water, worsened by heavy rains. They said that though there was no information about the identity of the woman, they were making attempts to save a life.
The women reportedly sat on top of a rock to save her life as the water level in the river kept rising. There was a time that the rescuers could not even locate the woman. She saved herself from the heavy water flow in the river with the help of a tree.

A massive fire broke out in a residential building in Mandi in Himachal Pradesh on Monday morning, killing at least five people. Authorities fear that many are still trapped inside the building even as the rescue operations are underway.
A massive fire broke out in a residential building in Mandi in Himachal Pradesh on Monday morning, killing at least five people. Authorities fear that many are still trapped inside the building even as the rescue operations are underway.
The incident took place in Ner Chowk area of Mandi. At least three fire tenders were rushed to the spot.
According to Rajiv Kumar, Additional District Magistrate of Mandi, LPG cylinder blast appears to be the reason behind the fire.

Writes to Union minister saying there are ‘aberrations’ in new tax regime,’ frequent changes causing inconvenience to businesses’
Chandigarh : A day after Punjab expressed serious objections to the way the Goods and Services Tax (GST) was being implemented by the NDA government at the GST Council meeting at New Delhi, the state stepped up its tirade by writing to Union finance minister Piyush Goyal against its “hasty” implementation.
In a letter to Goyal, Punjab finance minister Manpreet Badal said the law has many “aberrations” and needs corrections. “But the changes have to be made by involving all stakeholders not only within the Council (all state FMs are its members) but also those outside it, including taxpayers. It would avoid the need to go back to legislatures for frequent changes due to deficiencies in law which also cause inconvenience to businesses,” the letter read.
Manpreet also attached the letter written by chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh on July 7 to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which said the revenues haven’t shown the kind of buoyancy that was expected. “This is worrisome not only on the account of the impact it would have on precarious financial position of the (state) governments but also the restraint it would place on the government expenditure, including on social security,” the CM had said.
Manpreet told Goyal that the tax was being “rushed” to get some key amendments passed in the monsoon session of Parliament. “The process being adopted impinges on states’ rights. They should be able to respond after studying the recommendations of the Law Review Committee in detail,” the letter stated.
It also said the good work done by the law review committee is being ignored. “Out of 69 amendments proposed by the committee, only eight have been taken without changes, 15 with changes and rest ignored,” it says.

The operation was carried out on an intelligence tip-off about the presence of an Islamic State operative identified as Hidayat Ullah in a house in Darenjo village of Qalat district in the restive province.
Pakistani security forces on Friday killed the mastermind of the country’s worst ever suicide bombing in an early morning shootout in the southwest province of Balochistan, officials said.
The operation was carried out on an intelligence tip-off about the presence of an Islamic State (IS) operative identified as Hidayat Ullah in a house in Darenjo village of Qalat district in the restive province.
“The Frontier Corps (FC) raided the house and killed Hidayat Ullah after a strong resistance from him,” Qaisar Khan, a senior administration official in Qalat, told AFP.
A senior FC official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP Ullah was facilitator of Hafeez Nawaz, who carried out the suicide bombing last week which killed at least 149 people.
The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack at an election rally in Balochistan’s Mastung district.
Provincial authorities identified the bomber as Nawaz, a Pakistani national who stayed in Afghanistan and “waged jihad” against international troops before carrying out the suicide attack in Mastung.
A senior administration official in Mastung district Qaim Lashari also confirmed the Qalat raid.
“Hidayat Ullah led a group of IS operatives, who are present in different areas of Balochistan, and we hope to track them down pretty soon,” the official added.
News of Ullah’s death coincided with a small explosion in Chaman district bordering Afghanistan which wounded four people.
The bomb planted on a motorbike apparently targeted an FC vehicle and went off seconds after it passed by.
Oil and gas-rich Balochistan is regularly hit by homegrown militancy and sectarian violence.
Violence in Pakistan has however dropped significantly since the country’s deadliest-ever militant attack, an assault on a school in the northwestern city of Peshawar in 2014 that killed more than 150 people, most of them children.
Pakistan’s military intensified operations against militants in the tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan in the wake of that attack, leading to dramatic security improvements.
But analysts have long warned that Pakistan is not tackling the root causes of extremism, and that militants retain the ability to carry out spectacular attacks like the Mastung blast.

A mahant at a temple in Haryana’s Fatehabad was on Friday arrested by the police after videos of him allegedly raping women surfaced online. The police confirmed that a case had been filed and an investigation was underway.
A mahant at a temple in Haryana’s Fatehabad was on Friday arrested by the police after videos of him allegedly raping women surfaced online. The police confirmed that a case had been filed and an investigation was underway.
New agency ANI quoted a police official as saying, “We filed a case and started the probe. His premises were also raided and we seized some suspicious articles.” The arrested mahant has been identified as Baba Amarpuri of Baba Balaknath temple in Tohana area of Fatehabad.
As per a report in The Times of India, Baba Amarpuri allegedly raped at least 120 women and filmed the act on camera. He reportedly used the video clips to allegedly blackmail the women and rape them repeatedly.
The report further said that the police carried out searches and recovered 120 video clips. Each video clip reportedly was of different women.