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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MP boat tragedy: Death toll climbs to 13; body of last missing person recovered
Jabalpur (PTI): The bodies of a five-year-old boy and his uncle were recovered from Bargi Dam in Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur district on Sunday morning, raising the death toll in the cruise boat tragedy to 13, police said.
The boat, around 20 years old and operated by the state tourism department, capsized during a storm on Thursday evening.
"The bodies of Mayuram (5) and his uncle Kamraj (around 50), an employee of the Ordnance Factory in Khamaria, were found floating and were fished out of the dam," Bargi Sub Divisional Officer of Police Anjul Ayank Mishra told PTI over the phone.
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All 13 missing persons identified have now been accounted for, he said, adding the bodies were sent to a government hospital for postmortem.
Teams comprising around 20 Army divers airlifted from Agra, along with personnel from the National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force and local divers, were involved in the search operation, the police said.
Of the 41 identified passengers on board the vessel, 28 were rescued after the incident, according to the police.
The CCTV footage near the boarding point showed 43 people heading towards the boat, though the identities of 41 passengers have been confirmed so far, they said.
The state government on Friday ordered a probe into the incident and dismissed three crew members. It also banned the operation of similar vessels in the state.
