Nitish, do you dare to read the ordeals of Muzaffarpur rape victims?

'Besides ordering a CBI enquiry, ‘Susashan Babu’ Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has not uttered a word about the horrendous Muzaffarpur shelter home rape case, till the time of publishing this article.

Could this be due to reports that Brajesh Singh Thakur, the kingpin of the Muzaffarpur balika grih (shelter home) rape case, is close to the present state government? It is pertinent to note that the Nitish Kumar government had issued a tender to Brajesh Thakur in Patna on the same day that the police registered a case against him and his NGO in Muzaffarpur.

Leader of Opposition in the Bihar assembly, Tejashwi Yadav has termed Nitish Kumar’s silence as “criminal”, but the bigger question is how police, government, bureaucracy everyone failed for so long and how Brajesh managed to deceive the whole system and exploit girls supposedly under his ‘care’, for years.

Ordeals of 10 of the Muzaffarpur victims, in their own words

After investigation in the case, SHO Jyoti Kumari and DSP Mukul Kumar Ranjan had registered statements of several of the victims under Section 164 IPC. We are reproducing excerpts from the statements of 10 of complainants, in order to highlight the horrifying ordeal they underwent, and the gravity of the situation on which their chief minister is silent. The least Nitish Kumar can do is hear the voices of the victims of his government’s apathy.

Complainant 1: “When I screamed, he used cloth to shut my mouth”

I could not make chapatis and grind spices. For that, I was beaten up badly by K aunty. Several people would come to the shelter house. Of them, three would rape me. One of them would inject something (sedative) in my body, following which I fell unconscious. Another (whose picture police had attached with the FIR) person touched my private parts. Third one raped me several times. When I screamed, he used cloth to shut my mouth. K aunty would force me to go to the garden with a person who frequently visited shelter house.

Complainant 2: “People working there knew about our condition, but they were hand in glove”

Sleeping pills were given to me with food. After that, I was raped. People working there knew about our condition, but they were hand in glove in this dirty game. No one spoke against it. Everyone was part of this. I would feel pain in my private parts after I woke up in the next morning.

Complainant 3: “When I fell asleep, they raped me”

They gave me sleeping pills with food. When I fell asleep, they raped me. I was forced to sleep in B Sir’s room. K, N and C aunty would say that ‘iska kaam ho gaya’ (her work is finished). B Sir would call people from outside. And all of them had done dirty things with me.

Complainant 4. “He would threaten to kill me if I dared to tell someone about it”

B would disrobe me on the terrace and would beat me badly. He would rape me after that. He would threaten to kill me if I dared to tell someone about it.

Complainant 5: “He used to come every Tuesday and rape me”

I came to the balika grih (shelter house) in 2017. Within 10-15 days, Child Welfare Committee Sir came for the counselling and raped me. After that Counsellor V had raped me several times. He used to come every Tuesday and rape me. He had raped many other inmates also.

Complainant 6: “I would wound myself so that K aunty could not force me to do dirty things”

I have been living in the shelter house for more than two years. K aunty would do dirty things with me. To save myself from dirty things, I would cut my foot with any sharp-edged object. I would wound myself so that K aunty could not force me to do dirty things.

Complainant 7: “They would throw hot, boiling water on me”

I have been living in the shelter house for a year or so. I was not given enough food. When I would ask for some more food, they would beat me with a stick. They would throw hot, boiling water on me. I complained to the Superintendent of the shelter house, IK, but she did not pay any heed. Instead, she scolded us.

Complainant 8: “When opposed, she would beat us badly”

I have been living in the shelter house for more than two years. K aunty would misbehave with us. She would sleep without clothes in the night and force other girls to sleep with her. When opposed, she would beat us badly.

Complainant 9: “To escape her torture, 3-4 girls decided to sleep together”

I lived in the shelter house for years. K aunty would force girls to sleep with her. In night, she would call girls in an adjacent room and harass them sexually. To escape her torture, 3-4 girls decided to sleep together.

Complainant 10: “B Sir would come and beat us with sticks”

At the age of 7, I had landed in the shelter house by mistake. Since then, I had been living here. B Sir would come and beat us with sticks. He did dirty things with me. When I opposed him, he had beaten me up badly. He did dirty things with other girls also.

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