Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday said that the Patna High Court would monitor the CBI investigation into the Muzaffarpur rape incident so that "all those found guilty are duly punished".
Breaking his silence for the first time over the horrific incidents at shelter homes in the state, Nitish said he was deeply anguished and ashamed of it.
"I have asked the Advocate General (AG) to request the Patna High Court to monitor the ongoing CBI investigation into the Muzaffarpur rape incident so that the guilty can be brought to book at the earliest. An announcement in this regard has been made by Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi too on the floor of the House," said Nitish.
The chief minister was speaking at the launch of Mukhyamantri Kanya Utthan Yojna here in the state capital.
The programme was organised by the social welfare department, which is in the eye of a storm ever since the reports of sexual abuse of girls in Bihar's shelter homes came to the fore.
Social Welfare Minister Manju Verma, whose husband Chandeshwar Verma has been accused of visiting the girls at shelter home, was also present on the occasion.
When the media sought her reaction about the demand made by the Opposition for her resignation owning to moral responsibility for her husband’s misdemeanour, Manju's security guards heckled newsmen while the minister sped away without giving any reaction.
Nitish, meanwhile, said that he had asked Chief Secretary Deepak Kumar to develop an institutional mechanism in consultation with other departments so that such incidents of sexual abuse do not recur.
In the meantime, Leader of the Opposition Tejashwi Yadav said he would stage a daylong dharna at the Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on Saturday to protest against the Muzaffarpur incident in which 34 girls, out of 44 inmates, were sexually abused by those who were running the shelter home.
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