Congress for SC-monitored CBI probe into Muzaffarpur rapes
New Delhi, July 28 : The Congress on Saturday demanded a Supreme Court-monitored CBI inquiry into the rape of 34 minor girls in a shelter home in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi break his silence to condemn such crime.
Calling Chief Minister Nitish Kumar a 'Kushashan babu', the Congress asked if this was the good governance (sushashan) model of the Bharatiya Janata Party-Janata Dal-United government in the state.
"The opportunistic BJP-JDU alliance in Bihar has just completed one year in power, a year marred by misgovernance and anarchy," said AICC incharge of Bihar affairs Shaktisinh Gohil.
The Bihar government on Thursday announced a CBI probe into the case.
The shelter home was sealed after the sexual abuse of girl inmates came to light during a social audit by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.
The Congress also demanded that an FIR should be filed against 14 other such homes which were mentioned in the TISS report under "grave concerns".
It also demanded that the minors should be kept out of Bihar and all the 14 shelter homes sealed.
Gohil claimed that action had been taken only against one home shelter in Muzaffarpur, while the outrageous crime committed in remaining 14 have been conveniently ignored.
"Bihar is in the grip of complete lawlessness as horrifying incidents have shaken public conscience," he said.
He said that the family of arrested Child Protection Officer (Ravi Roushan) has made sensational claims that Social Development Minister Manju Verma's husband Chandrashekhar Verma regularly visited the shelter home.
"This has raised several uncomfortable questions regarding the role of the Minister and her husband," the Congress leader said.
"A government and a Chief Minister known for empowering women and girl child through bicycles, prohibition of liquor and reservation presides over a regime where girls in shelter homes are being sexually exploited."
"All thanks to the anti-women mindset of BJP and its leadership," he added.
The Congress leader also claimed that key accused Brajesh Thakur was getting support from BJP youth wing Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha leader Sudhanshu Pathak, who has demanded his release.
"Instead of seeking justice for the victims and demanding punishment for the guilty, the BJP is brazening it out and is busy protecting the predators," said Gohil.
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Centre moves SC for withdrawing CRPF security to Unnao rape survivor, SC seeks her reply
New Delhi, Sep 24: The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought responses from the 2017 Unnao rape survivor and her family members on the Centre's plea seeking withdrawal of CRPF security cover provided to them following the court's order in 2019. Expelled BJP leader Kuldeep Singh Sengar is serving a life term for kidnapping and raping the minor girl in Uttar Pradesh's Unnao area in 2017.
Taking note of the sensational rape case and the threat to lives of the survivor and others, the apex court on August 1, 2019, directed that the rape survivor, her mother, other members of the family and their lawyer be provided CRPF security.
A bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma asked that the application of the Centre to be served on the victim and her family members. The bench also observed that since there is hardly any threat perception, it would like to close the case.
The Centre's counsel said no security cover is needed according to the threat analysis of the victim and her family members.
Advocate Ruchira Goel, appearing for the Uttar Pradesh government, submitted that everything, including the trial, was transferred to Delhi after the incident following the apex court's order.
The bench asked Goel where the victim resides at present. She replied that the woman and her family stay in Delhi.
On May 14, the top court had asked the Centre to file a separate application seeking withdrawal of CRPF security cover provided to the survivor, her family members and their lawyers.
The Centre submitted that the security cover may be provided by either the Delhi or Uttar Pradesh police and the CRPF be permitted to withdraw.
In 2019, the top court transferred all five cases registered in connection with the Unnao rape incident from a Lucknow court to a court in Delhi with the direction to hold trial on daily basis and complete it within 45 days.
The Supreme Court also directed the Uttar Pradesh government to provide Rs 25 lakh as interim compensation to the rape survivor.
The court had added that the CBI will have to complete within seven days the investigation into the accident in which the survivor and her lawyer were critically injured and two of her aunts killed.
Her father was arrested at the behest of Sengar in a case under the Arms Act and died in custody on April 9, 2018.
Sengar has sought the quashing of the trial court's December 2019 judgment that has sentenced him to imprisonment for the remainder of his life. His appeal is pending in the Delhi High Court.
On March 13, 2020, Sengar was sentenced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment in the case of death of the woman's father in custody. He was also slapped with a fine of Rs 10 lakh. The court had awarded a 10-year jail term to Sengar's brother Atul Singh Sengar and five others in the case.
