The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered that eight girls who were subjected to rampant sexual assault in recent times be reunited with their families. The court was acting on the basis of a report by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences and also ordered the Bihar government to to process compensation, ensure benefits of other schemes to the girls. The bench comprising of Justices NV Ramana and Ajay Rastogi also asked TISS to give status report on other girls after eight weeks.
Several girls were sexually assaulted at an NGO-run shelter home in Muzaffarpur, Bihar, and the issue came to limelight following a report by TISS which had conducted a social audit there.
The statement from the top court came after ‘Koshish’, a field action project of TISS, filed a status report before it in a sealed cover and said eight girls are fit to be handed over to their families. The counsel appearing for TISS told the bench that ‘Koshish’ has contacted the family members of five girls and the home visit is due.
The apex court had in July this year allowed ‘Koshish’ to interact with these children and their respective families to find out the acceptability of these children to their families and the repercussions thereupon.
The court is dealing with an application filed by Bihar government seeking permission to complete the process of rehabilitation and restoration of 44 girls of Muzaffarpur shelter home, who are presently residing in different shelter homes in the state, with their families.
–India Legal Bureau
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