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Muzaffarpur Shelter Home, Where Inmates Were Sexually Abused, Is Being Demolished

Orders for razing the building were issued by the municipal authorities last month after it was found that the structure was raised in violation of the approved plan, officials said.
Representative image.
SAJJAD HUSSAIN via Getty Images
Representative image.

MUZAFFARPUR — The demolition of a building in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur that housed a shelter home, where inmates were allegedly sexually abused, began on Thursday, officials said.

The demolition work began in presence of a five-member team headed by executive engineer Suresh Kumar Sinha. Municipal Commissioner Sanjay Dubey has set up the panel to look after the demolition job.

Orders for razing the building were issued by the municipal authorities last month after it was found that the structure was raised in violation of the approved plan, officials said.

The shelter home has been closed down and the building was vacated on Tuesday.

It may take a few days to demolish the building completely as is located in a narrow alley, sources said.

The building is situated close to the residence of Brajesh Thakur, the prime accused in the sex scandal. He is currently lodged in a jail at Patiala.

The scandal at the shelter home called ‘Balika Grih’, run by Brajesh Thakur’s NGO ‘Seva Sankalp Evam Vikas Samiti’, came to light earlier this year in a social audit by the Mumbai-based Tata Institute of Social Sciences, which said that over 30 girls living there were sexually abused.

After the shelter home scandal came to light, Thakur and others were booked on May 30. The Bihar government later handed over the probe to the CBI. The agency is investigating the case under supervision of the Supreme Court.

Bihar Social Welfare Minister Manju Verma had resigned following the Muzaffarpur case, when it came to light that her husband, Chandrashekhar Verma, had spoken to Thakur several times between January and June.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.