Muzaffarpur horror victim gangraped in moving vehicle in Bihar

Patna, Sep 16 (IANS) A girl, who alleged mental abuse at the infamous Muzaffarpur shelter home in Bihar, was gangraped by four people in West Champaran district, police said on Monday.

Town police station in-charge Sashibhusan Thakur said a case was registered based on the rape survivor's statement against four the accused. The victim informed police that last Friday evening four men abducted her from near her residence, gangraped her in the moving vehicle and then escaped leaving her outside home.

"She has been admitted to a government hospital, where her medical examination was conducted. The report is awaited," Thakur said. He added that women police station in-charge Punam Kumari had met the survivor at the hospital and had started investigating the case.

Last week, the Supreme Court ordered eight survivors of sexual abuse in the Muzaffarpur shelter home case, to be sent back to their families.

The apex court order came on the report of the Tata Institute for Social Sciences' (TISS) field action project 'Koshish', which suggested sending the girls back to their families.

A total of 44 girls were victims in the shelter home abuse case, which is currently being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The trial of the 21 accused, chargesheeted by the CBI for sexual abuse of the inmates, is currently on in a Delhi court.

The Muzaffarpur horror came to light in May 2018 when the Bihar Social Welfare Department filed an FIR based on a TISS social audit.

Brajesh Thakur, a journalist-turned-social activist heading the NGO which ran the shelter home, and other accused were arrested. The matter was handed over to the CBI in July last year.

Thakur has since been shifted to the high-security Patiala jail following a Supreme Court order, while the other accused, including his close aides and some government officials, are lodged in jails in Patna and Muzaffarpur.

The trial of the case was later shifted to Delhi.