Day after police raid, 2 women die in Bihar shelter home
2 min readPATNA: Another shelter home in Bihar is in the eye of the storm with two of its inmates dying mysteriously a day after police raided the place located in the Rajiv Nagar area here.
The women, aged 17 and 40, died on Saturday but their deaths became public only on Sunday when Patna Medical College and Hospital reported the matter to the police. Two office-bearers of the NGO that runs the home have been arrested.
This is the first time deaths have been reported from a shelter home in Bihar after the rape of 34 inmates in Muzaffarpur Balika Grih came to light last month.
Poonam Bharti (17) and Babli (40) had been staying for the past three months at the shelter home, which is run by Anumaya Human Resource Foundation under the state social welfare department.
‘Postmortem will ascertain cause of death’
PMCH superintendent Dr Rajiv Ranjan Prasad said that the two were brought dead to the hospital on Saturday by shelter home attendant Baby Kumari Singh. “The postmortem report will ascertain the cause of death,” he said.
Patna SSP Manu Maharaaj, who visited the shelter home, said NGO secretary Chirantan Kumar and treasurer Manisha Dayal have been arrested for neglecting inmates and not reporting the deaths to the police. A day before Poonam and Babli died, police had raided the shelter home and arrested a 50-year-old person for alleged sexual harassment of some inmates.
However, Chirantan Kumar told TOI before his arrest that it was a “mere coincidence” that the two inmates died a day after the police raid. He said Poonam was suffering from diarrhoea and Babli had dengue and both were on medicines prescribed by PMCH doctors. RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav slammed Bihar CM Nitish Kumar over the girls’ death.
Courtesy: TNN