Muzaffarpur scandal: Patna High Court seeks report from CBI, Bihar government within 2 weeks

Patna: Patna High Court on Monday asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Bihar government to submit a detailed action report in the Muzaffarpur sex scandal case. The court has sought the report within the next two weeks.

The court has also asked the state govt to provide details on rehabilitation of the inmates of shelter home, said Lalit Kishore, Advocate General of Patna High Court.

Earlier in the day, the High Court accepted a written argument of the state government which was presented before it. According to Kishore, The Patna High Court has also accepted the state government's appeal to hold High Court-monitored CBI inquiry and conduct a speedy trial in a special court.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has, meanwhile, directed all district magistrates to inspect child shelter homes and women shelter homes across the state. He has also ordered adequate security arrangements to be made at the shelter homes.

A team of CBI has reached Muzaffarpur for further investigation after getting all documents from Social Welfare Department, Patna and TISS (Tata Institute of Social Sciences) in connection with the case.

More than 40 girls had been lodged at the shelter home and medical reports suggest that over half of them may have had sexual intercourse at some point of time.

The alleged sex scandal in Muzaffarpur surfaced in a social audit conducted by Mumbai-based Tata Institute of Social Sciences. Following this, FIR was lodged by the state social welfare department in June, which led to the arrest of 10 people.

The NGO running the shelter home has been blacklisted and all the girls have been moved to shelter homes in other districts while the premises has been sealed.