Muzaffarpur Shelter Home: SC terms as 'horrible' and 'scary' details placed before it by CBI
New Delhi, Oct 25 : The Supreme Court Thursday termed as "horrible" and "scary" details placed before it about the investigation into the case of Muzaffarpur shelter home where several girls were allegedly raped and sexually abused.
A bench headed by Justice Madan B Lokur perused the status report filed by the CBI and said "what is this going on? This is horrible".
The apex court also took note of the allegations referred by CBI against shelter home owner Brajesh Thakur and issued notice to him to explain why he should not be transferred to a jail outside the state.
The CBI in its report had alleged that Thakur is an influential person and a mobile phone was recovered from him inside the jail where he is currently lodged under judicial custody.
The bench also comprising Justices S Abdul Nazeer and Deepak Gupta noted that Thakur is an influential person
The top court also asked Bihar and he CBI to explain the delay in tracing the whereabouts of ex-minister Manju Verma's husband Chandrashekhar Verma.
It had asked the Bihar Police to investigate the former minister and her husband in connection with the recovery of huge quantity of ammunition from them.
Verma had to resign as the minister of Social Welfare from the Bihar government in the wake of the Muzzafarpur shelter home sexual abuse case.
The bench also made it clear that the CBI team investigating the case should not be changed and posted the matter for hearing on October 30.
The apex court had on September 18 stayed a Patna High Court order to set up a fresh CBI team to probe the case, saying such a move would not only be detrimental to the ongoing investigation but also to victims.
It had said that there was no reason now to change the existing investigating team, which was set up by the CBI Director, and directed the investigation to continue under the same team which was set up on July 30.
Earlier, the bench had said that the investigation seems to be going in the right direction and had also asked the Income Tax Department to look into assets of the NGO which was running the shelter home and its owner Thakur.
The apex court had also noted that no allegations were made against the team probing the case with regard to the manner in which the investigation was being conducted.
Over 30 girls were allegedly raped at the shelter home.The alleged sexual exploitation of the girls was first highlighted in an audit report submitted by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) to the state's social welfare department.
In all, the sexual abuse of 34 of the 42 inmates was confirmed in their medical examination. The TISS audit report had said that many girls at the shelter home had complained of sexual abuse.
An FIR was lodged against 11 people, including Thakur, on May 31. The probe was later taken over by the CBI.
A special investigation team was formed to probe the complaints. The NGO running the shelter home in Muzaffarpur was blacklisted and the girls were shifted to shelter homes in Patna and Madhubani. Women staff members of the shelter home and Thakur were among those who were arrested by the police in connection with the case.
The apex court had earlier taken cognizance of the matter after it received a letter from one Ranvijay Kumar, who had expressed concern that the alleged victims were subjected to media interviews.
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Party remains robust, will bounce back, says DMK
Chennai (PTI): Dismissing the shock defeat in the Assembly election as nothing unusual in a democracy, the DMK on Wednesday said it has seen several ups and downs in its long history and asserted that the party workers and office-bearers continue to be energetic and are committed to continuing the good work for people's welfare.
Tracing the party's chequered history, DMK Organisation Secretary RS Bharathi said in 1991 Assembly polls, only the party's late patriarch M Karunanidhi and Parithi Ilamvazhuthi won from Harbour and Egmore segments respectively out of the 234 constituencies in the state.
"So, who can forget 1991? That year we lost. But we bounced back and formed the government in 1996. In our long history of over 7 decades we have seen lots of ups and downs and party workers show determination and continue the good work even when out of power," the DMK leader told PTI.
He said the difference in vote share between his party (24.19 per cent) and the "winning party" (34.92 per cent) is not "very wide."
Bharathi expressed confidence about the party bouncing back and once again emerging victorious.
He and others cited the message of DMK President M K Stalin, thanking the people and asserting that ideology was important rather than victories and defeats alone.
On May 4, the DMK chief asserted that he had seen in his public life, lot of victories and defeats as well. Hence, it is the goal and ideology that was paramount and not merely electoral victories and defeats.
The DMK, which worked efficiently as the ruling party, would from now on work effectively as the main opposition party.
He had further said: "I was truthful to all sections of people; I acted as per conscience, worked beyond my capacity."
Stalin said: "I bow to people's verdict, DMK worked well as ruling party, from now on will be good opposition party. DMK's political journey will continue without any slackness."
When votes were counted on May 4, actor-politician Vijay's TVK created a record of sorts in the electoral history of Tamil Nadu and emerged as the single largest party by delivering a shock defeat to incumbent DMK and its president, Chief Minister Stalin in his Kolathur constituency, while the AIADMK was pushed to a distant third spot.
Vijay and TVK have many firsts to their credit and the party founder will be the first person from a minority religion -Christianity- to helm the state. The assembly election was held on April 23 in Tamil Nadu.
கழகத் தலைவர் மு.க.ஸ்டாலின் அவர்களின் அறிக்கை
— DMK (@arivalayam) May 5, 2026
நடந்து முடிந்த தமிழ்நாடு சட்டமன்றப் பொதுத் தேர்தலில் திராவிட முன்னேற்றக் கழகத்தின் தலைமையிலான மதச்சார்பற்ற முற்போக்குக் கூட்டணிக் கட்சியின் வேட்பாளர்களுக்கு வாக்களித்த தமிழ்நாட்டு மக்கள் அனைவருக்கும் எனது மனமார்ந்த நன்றியை உண்மை… pic.twitter.com/LQtrACGK0z
