Audit report was sent to the social welfare department on March 15 but an FIR in connection with the case was registered on May 31. (Photo: Youtube Screengrab)

Patna: In a major crackdown, the state government has suspended assistant director of Muzaffarpur Child Protection unit Devesh Kumar Sharma for delaying action against all accused in the shelter home rape case.

Allegations are that Devesh Kumar Sharma didn’t act immediately to stop the incidents from happening. The issue was exposed after Mumbai based Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) mentioned in its audit report that minor girls were subjected to extreme torture and sexual abuse inside the shelter home.

The audit report was sent to the social welfare department on March 15 but FIR in connection with the case was registered at the women’s police station by the district protection unit assistant director on May 31.

The TISS audit report, a copy of which is also available with this newspaper clearly states that “Several girls reported about violence and being abused sexually.”

“This is very serious and needs to be further investigated promptly. Immediate legal procedures must be followed to enquire into the charges and corrective measures be taken,” it added.

Besides Mr Sharma, the state government has also suspended five more assistant directors of child protection unit posted at Madhubani Araria, Munger, Bhagalpur and Bhojpur districts for allegedly sitting on a report which exposed sexual abuse in shelter homes.

Police sources claim that 44 girls were shifted to various other safer locations after an FIR was registered.

The police on the basis of information gathered from the victims had arrested ten persons including Brajesh Thakur the administrator of the NGO Sewa Sankalp Evam Vikas Samiti that was in agreement with the social welfare department to run the shelter home from a building adjacent to his residence.

However, another accused Dilip Verma, Chairman of District Welfare Committee is still absconding.

A medical examination conducted on the inmates of Muzaffarpur shelter home confirms sexual assault on 34 minor girls.

The issue has snowballed into a big political controversy with opposition parties jointly holding rallies against the issue and demanding Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s resignation on “moral grounds”.

The case was however handed over to the CBI after RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav and other opposition leaders visited Muzaffarpur home to assess the situation and blamed Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of shielding “big faces” including the main accused Brajesh Thakur. Under attack from the opposition Mr Kumar last week broke his silence on the issue and termed the incident as “shameful” and assured strict action.