‘Vague’ medical reports of rape survivors irk Muzaffarpur SSP

PATNA: Muzaffarpur SSP Harpreet Kaur on Friday said she would write to the state police headquarters, urging it to ensure constitution of a medical board with dedicated team of doctors for medical examination of all the 44 minor girls who were rescued from a ‘children home’ following reports of their sexual abuse recently.
The medical examinations of the rescued girls are being conducted at different government hospitals in Patna and Madhubani. The SSP is dissatisfied with the reports made available by the doctors concerned.

“The tests are not being conducted properly. Vague medical reports are being given by the doctors,” Kaur told TOI. The SSP added she would also urge the police headquarters to involve police officers from Crime Investigation Department (CID) in the probe.

Sources said instead of doctors, nurses were given the responsibility of conducting medical tests on eight girls at New Gardiner Road Hospital in Patna. “It was only after the intervention of Bihar State Women’s Commission chairman Dilmani Mishra and Patna civil surgeon Pramod Jha that doctors were asked to conduct tests,” they alleged.

On June 4, when a police team reached Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) with eight other rescued girls of the children home for x-ray, there was none to attend to them. “The x-rays were conducted in the emergency ward of the hospital more than three hours after the arrival of the girls,” the sources added. “The girls are also being exposed to common people. They should have been attended by the doctors separately,” they said.

Meanwhile, Dibesh Kumar Sharma, assistant director, district child protection unit, Muzaffarpur, on Friday said the number of rescued girls was 44 and not 46 as was claimed earlier.

The alleged sexual abuse of the girls at the children home came to light through a social audit report of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences-Mumbai, following which an FIR was lodged with the Women’s police station in Muzaffarpur on May 31. The NGO proprietor, Brajesh Thakur, and the NGO’s seven women office-bearers as well as children welfare committee member Vineet Kumar Verma have since been arrested.

Tejashwi questions ‘silence’ of Nitish:

Leader of opposition in state assembly Tejashwi Pratap Yadav on Friday questioned the silence of CM Nitish Kumar and his deputy Sushil Kumar Modi over the issue of sexual exploitation of minor girls at Muzaffarpur children home.

“There are allegations that the girls were being supplied to functionaries of ruling parties in the state and top officials,” Tejashwi tweeted.

Courtesy: TNN