Muzaffarpur Shame Exposes Governments dependence on NGOs for Welfare Responsibilities
Syed Ali Mujtaba
The horrifying news from a state sponsored shelter home at Muzafarpur town in Bihar has lowered the national esteem beyond imagination. All over the country, there has been shock and dismay at this shameful news. No one could believed that such kind of ghastly act can take place even in a state run shelter home.
Now, when the heat and dust of over such monumental shame is settling down, it is time to take stock of the situation. This should begin with acknowledgment of those who are the prime movers of this news into the public domain.
First mover of this news is the 'Team Koshish' (field-action programme of Tata Institute of Social Sciences) that conducted the ‘Social Audit’ of the Muzafarpur shelter home and brought out the shocking irregularities happening there. The ‘ Team Koshish' is worthy of praise because they have worked in an extremely hostile situation and brought out the graphic details of physical injustices happening on the marginalized girls who actually were destitute, homeless and beggars living in that shelter home. .
Even as all the members of the ‘Team Koshish' deserve accolade, the special one must go to Mohammad Tarique (an Ashoka Fellow) who led the team with great passion. He selflessly supervised the audit team and helped in the preparation of the report in an extremely tight time frame is commendable.
The third kudos goes to Atul Prasad, Principal Secretary, ‘Social Welfare Department’ government of Bihar for envisioning such an unprecedented social audit by impartial organization i.e Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS). He deserves the bigger accolade for accepting the truth and publishing the report and thus making it public. Had the TISS report not been made public, the truth may have remained buried in the files of Social Welfare Department of Bihar.
The third person who deserves honor of accolade is Ms. Harpreet Kaur, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Muzaffarpur. It is her investigation that made skeletons tumble out. She showed great sense of courage in lodging the FIR against the key accused and promptly arrested them. She has shown that what an upright police officer can do if allowed to handle such sensitive cases like this.
The case so far and where it’s heading? A nationally reputed organization Tata Institute of Social Science carried out a social audit of a state-run shelter home that was based on evidence of the ‘inmates’ reported instances sexual assault on them.
The TISS submitted the report to the social welfare department of Bihar that not only accepted the report but went ahead to make it public. Following which the Superintendent of police Muzafarpur, carried out investigation and video-graphed evidence based on statements of the victims. After that an FIR was lodged against the accused and the culprits were booked. Following that an independent medical board from the reputed medical college did medical examination of the victim and corroborated the report that 34 out of 44 girls of the shelter home were raped.
There was a public hue and cry for speedy disposal of the case and demand of exemplary punishment for those found guilty. After which, the Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar handed over the case to the CBI for investigation. He declared that no culprit, however powerful will be spared.
Now it is likely that the CBI will carry out further investigation of this case and collect more clinching evidence to make it a water tight case against the accused. After that the charge-sheet will be framed and the case will be heard in the CBI court and justice is expected to be delivered in a time frame.
It is now clear that most of the rape victims were minors and falls within the jurisdiction of Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act 2012. Under the new provision of POSCO Act that was amended in 2018 after 'Kathua rape case.' “all accused are guilty till proven innocent.” This is a significant shift from the previous position “all accused are innocent till proven guilty.”
This Muzaffarpur shelter home case is a rarest of the rare case, where the new provision of POSCO Act 2018 can come into effect and the accused can be given the death sentence for raping minors below 12 years of age. It is expected that maximum punishment will be given to the pathological criminals found guilty of committing such heinous crime.
Muzaffarpur shelter home expose has blown over the lid of such horrific crime happening in state sponsored shelter home. The National Human Right Commission reports testify the fact that such sexual abuse of girls and women are more of a norm than the exception in government run mental hospitals, shelter homes run by NGOs.
After Muzafarpur shame a similar case was reported from, another shelter home in Deoria, in UP. It is high time that all such government run shelter homes in the country should be scrutinized through social audit. An honest audit by the bunch of committed youth like those of ‘ Team Koshish’ can deliver the desired results. Such social audit should have full state support and be made public. The various reforms suggested in such audit report should be implemented expeditiously and monitored periodically by the government.
Another concern is how to reorganize all such rehabilitation programmes of the government. The girls in the shelter homes were victims of the social and psychological malaise of the society. They have been protected in the shelter homes to escape further humiliation from the society. Now in such protected homes, they were physically and psychologically tortured. This is a matter of great concern and poses a big challenge to the governments.
The need of the hour is a full proof rehabilitation programme of all such social victims who are living in protected homes. The heart of the matter is that governments are absolving themselves from the welfare responsibilities and handing it over to some non-governmental organisations. This is the biggest revelation from this story.
There is no quick fix solution to such national shame. This malaise will not be set right unless the governments become proactive in discharging its social duties. This is a very serious issue and the response to it should be in proportion to the pandemonium that is created in the country.
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Syed Ali Mujtaba is a journalist based in Chennai.
Syed Ali Mujtaba
Now, when the heat and dust of over such monumental shame is settling down, it is time to take stock of the situation. This should begin with acknowledgment of those who are the prime movers of this news into the public domain.
First mover of this news is the 'Team Koshish' (field-action programme of Tata Institute of Social Sciences) that conducted the ‘Social Audit’ of the Muzafarpur shelter home and brought out the shocking irregularities happening there. The ‘ Team Koshish' is worthy of praise because they have worked in an extremely hostile situation and brought out the graphic details of physical injustices happening on the marginalized girls who actually were destitute, homeless and beggars living in that shelter home. .
Even as all the members of the ‘Team Koshish' deserve accolade, the special one must go to Mohammad Tarique (an Ashoka Fellow) who led the team with great passion. He selflessly supervised the audit team and helped in the preparation of the report in an extremely tight time frame is commendable.
The third kudos goes to Atul Prasad, Principal Secretary, ‘Social Welfare Department’ government of Bihar for envisioning such an unprecedented social audit by impartial organization i.e Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS). He deserves the bigger accolade for accepting the truth and publishing the report and thus making it public. Had the TISS report not been made public, the truth may have remained buried in the files of Social Welfare Department of Bihar.
The third person who deserves honor of accolade is Ms. Harpreet Kaur, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Muzaffarpur. It is her investigation that made skeletons tumble out. She showed great sense of courage in lodging the FIR against the key accused and promptly arrested them. She has shown that what an upright police officer can do if allowed to handle such sensitive cases like this.
The case so far and where it’s heading? A nationally reputed organization Tata Institute of Social Science carried out a social audit of a state-run shelter home that was based on evidence of the ‘inmates’ reported instances sexual assault on them.
The TISS submitted the report to the social welfare department of Bihar that not only accepted the report but went ahead to make it public. Following which the Superintendent of police Muzafarpur, carried out investigation and video-graphed evidence based on statements of the victims. After that an FIR was lodged against the accused and the culprits were booked. Following that an independent medical board from the reputed medical college did medical examination of the victim and corroborated the report that 34 out of 44 girls of the shelter home were raped.
There was a public hue and cry for speedy disposal of the case and demand of exemplary punishment for those found guilty. After which, the Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar handed over the case to the CBI for investigation. He declared that no culprit, however powerful will be spared.
Now it is likely that the CBI will carry out further investigation of this case and collect more clinching evidence to make it a water tight case against the accused. After that the charge-sheet will be framed and the case will be heard in the CBI court and justice is expected to be delivered in a time frame.
It is now clear that most of the rape victims were minors and falls within the jurisdiction of Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act 2012. Under the new provision of POSCO Act that was amended in 2018 after 'Kathua rape case.' “all accused are guilty till proven innocent.” This is a significant shift from the previous position “all accused are innocent till proven guilty.”
This Muzaffarpur shelter home case is a rarest of the rare case, where the new provision of POSCO Act 2018 can come into effect and the accused can be given the death sentence for raping minors below 12 years of age. It is expected that maximum punishment will be given to the pathological criminals found guilty of committing such heinous crime.
Muzaffarpur shelter home expose has blown over the lid of such horrific crime happening in state sponsored shelter home. The National Human Right Commission reports testify the fact that such sexual abuse of girls and women are more of a norm than the exception in government run mental hospitals, shelter homes run by NGOs.
After Muzafarpur shame a similar case was reported from, another shelter home in Deoria, in UP. It is high time that all such government run shelter homes in the country should be scrutinized through social audit. An honest audit by the bunch of committed youth like those of ‘ Team Koshish’ can deliver the desired results. Such social audit should have full state support and be made public. The various reforms suggested in such audit report should be implemented expeditiously and monitored periodically by the government.
Another concern is how to reorganize all such rehabilitation programmes of the government. The girls in the shelter homes were victims of the social and psychological malaise of the society. They have been protected in the shelter homes to escape further humiliation from the society. Now in such protected homes, they were physically and psychologically tortured. This is a matter of great concern and poses a big challenge to the governments.
The need of the hour is a full proof rehabilitation programme of all such social victims who are living in protected homes. The heart of the matter is that governments are absolving themselves from the welfare responsibilities and handing it over to some non-governmental organisations. This is the biggest revelation from this story.
There is no quick fix solution to such national shame. This malaise will not be set right unless the governments become proactive in discharging its social duties. This is a very serious issue and the response to it should be in proportion to the pandemonium that is created in the country.
-------------
Syed Ali Mujtaba is a journalist based in Chennai.
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