Breaking his long silence over the rape of minor girls at a Muzaffarpur shelter home, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said he was deeply hurt over the incident and feeling ashamed. “We and the entire Biharis are highly ashamed and pained. Whosoever committed this heinous crime should be punished so severely that nobody could dare to commit this sin in future,” he said on Friday while inaugurating the Mukhya Mantri Kanya Utthan Yojna.
This was Nitish’s first reaction on the most infamous and condemned sexual exploitation of destitute or lost girls at the shelter home made for them. For the last over a fortnight the horrible incident that caused shock across the country was being debated hotly, Bihar Government came under severe criticism and the CM was accused of presiding over a lawless State and protecting the rapists and criminals.
“I will remain engaged in social reform works till I am here. In my Government there will be rule of law. No accused will get away,” said the CM and added that CBI has already started investigation and he has asked the Advocate General that the probe should be conducted under the monitoring of the high court for more probity and clarity and no culprit should escape.
Nitish said he held meeting with top police and civil officials and asked them to find out the loopholes and drawbacks in the system and that such a system be developed where such incidents could not be repeated. “I feel extremely sad for the victims of Muzaffarpur shelter home,” he added.
At the official function organised by the Social Welfare and Health departments, Social Welfare Minister Manju Verma was also present. She turned red for the repeated queries from the media about the involvement of her husband in the rape incident and her security personnel manhandled the media people. Earlier she had held a press conference in an attempt to given a clean chit to Chandrashekhar Verma.
Only a day earlier, leader of Opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav had said that he would leave nothing to chance for breaking the “criminal” silence of the CM. Yadav who left for Delhi would hold a dharna at Jantar Mantar there on this issue on Saturday. Sources close to the RJD leader claimed that AICC president Rahul Gandhi, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, former UP CM Akhilesh Yadav and other politicians would join the dharna to condemn the Muzaffarpur’s shameful event.
In a barb at the CM Yadav said, “Why his antaratma (conscience) is sleeping though the entire society is condemning the rape of 34 girls. I have decided to sit on dharna to expose Nitish. The Governor wrote letter to the CM and the Supreme Court took cognisance of the case but Nitish remained silent.”