Amid child rape scandal, court orders CBI probe of Bihar CM

The development has come as a severe setback for the chief minister ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

A special court on Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POSCO) ordered the CBI investigation of the chief minister, while acting on a petition by Dr Ashwini Kumar, one of the accused persons in the case.

Dr Kumar in his petition called for a probe of the Bihar chief minister, officials working with the Social Welfare Department and other senior officials concerned, who found no discrepancies during inspections of the child care home in Muzaffarpur town.

He alleged all these people enjoyed cordial relations with the main accused, Brajesh Thaur, who is being held in custody in Patiala jail.

“Looking into our complaint, the court later ordered for a CBI probe against the chief minister and his officials who gave clean chit to the care home during their previous inspections,” said lawyer Sudhir Kumar Ojha, who appeared for the accused Dr Kumar.

He wondered how his client could be an “accused” if officials who inspected the care home in the past found nothing wrong there.

“If the inspection reports are correct then my client is innocent and if they are wrong, then the role of everyone, from the chief minister to his officials be investigated,” Ojha asked, ultimately prompting the court to order the investigation by the CBI.

The doctor is accused of visiting the care homes at frequent intervals and administering sedatives to the girls before they were sexually abused.

His arrest came after a large quantity of sedatives were recovered from the care home during the raids.

Meanwhile, the opposition has called for the resignation of the chief minister, saying there could not be a fair investigation into the scandal if Kumar continued as the head of the state.

“The chief minister should immediately resign from his post as we apprehend his continuation on the post could affect the investigation,” former federal minister Upendra Kushwaha told the media on Saturday.

The main opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) also pressed for his resignation.

“It is time he should resign and set an example for the society,” RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav said. “He has always been seeking resignations from others [caught in scandals].”

The alleged sexual abuse of minors came to light after the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), a multi-campus public-funded research university in Mumbai, conducted a social audit of the care home being run at Muzaffarpur town.

The TISS in its 100-page report, mentioned that “Institutions of all categories were found to be indulging in some form of abuse. Incidents of harassment, sexual abuse, corporal punishment, neglect and humiliation were reported rampantly”.

Acting on the report, the police later rescued all the girls and sent them to hospital for medical examinations.

It was only then that stories of their abuse came to light.

The case took a curious turn when the investigating agency found the husband of Bihar social welfare minister Manju Verma was allegedly involved in the case.

As per CBI sources, the minister’s husband had talked to the prime accused Thakur as many as 17 times in between February and May last year just before the scandal had come to light.

The revelation led to the resignation of minister who hailed from the ruling Janata Dal United (JD-U) headed by chief minister Nitish Kumar. The minister has been suspended from the party in the aftermath of sensational revelations.

The case took another turn when the CBI while investigating the case raided the house of the minister and recovered 50 live cartridges, leading to registration of a case against both the minister and the husband.

Soon they went into hiding but under pressures from the Supreme Court, both have surrendered before the court and have been jailed.