Muzaffarpur minor rape-murder: Bihar Congress holds protest, 7 party workers detained

The Congress in Bihar took out a march here on Monday to protest against the rape and murder of a girl in Muzaffarpur district, police said.

Seven Congress workers were detained during the demonstration in Patna, as part of a preventive measure, a senior officer said. According to a police official in Patna, the Congress workers were detained at Rajapul in Sri Krishnapuri area, a few hundred metres from Sadaqat Ashram, the party's state unit headquarters, as the protesters wanted to march to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's residence.

''Seven Congress workers were detained by the security personnel as a preventive measure and brought to the PS. Later, they were allowed to go,'' Sri Krishnapuri Station House Officer Prabhat Kumar told PTI.

Talking to reporters, state Congress president Rajesh Ram, who led the protest, said, ''The death of the rape victim at the Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) is a heart-wrenching incident and an insult to our state, headed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.'' The victim died as the ''law and order and the health system in the state have collapsed'', he alleged. ''The NDA government in the state and the PMCH administration are solely responsible for the death of the girl. The incident has exposed the insensitivity of the government, the CM and the PMCH,'' he claimed.

It took the hospital administration more than four hours to provide her a bed, he claimed, adding she was admitted after the Congress' ''intervention''. ''The girl succumbed to her injuries on Sunday morning. If she had received timely treatment, her life could have been saved. But the double-engine government was negligent not only in providing security but also in saving her life,'' the Congress leader alleged. He also accused the CM of being ''deaf and dumb'', claiming that Kumar was ''simply maintaining a stoic silence over the issue''. State health minister Mangal Pandey must resign, said the Bihar Congress chief. Congress workers also held a dharna in Muzaffarpur over the incident. The girl, who was raped in her village in Muzaffarpur on May 26, was brought to PMCH on Saturday in a critical condition. ''Her throat and chest were brutally slashed by the accused. He had attempted to kill her by slitting her throat. The accused was arrested,'' police said. The district administration on Monday handed over a cheque of Rs 4,12,500 as compensation to a family member of the deceased.

Muzaffarpur District Magistrate Subrata Sen has directed the officers concerned to release the second instalment of the compensation of Rs 4,12,500 after filing a charge sheet against the accused.

Besides, the DM has also approved a monthly pension of Rs 7,750 to the deceased's family as per the existing provisions.

Meanwhile, another girl was sexually assaulted by a person in Muzaffarpur, police said on Monday. A case has been registered, based on a complaint filed by the victim's family members, Animesh Chandar Gyani, Dy SP (West), Muzaffarpur, told reporters.

''The incident took place in the Turki area in Kundhani block on May 31. According to the complaint filed by the victim's mother, the accused lured the minor on the pretext of offering toys and took her to an isolated place. He raped the girl there and fled the spot,'' the deputy SP said.

A case has been registered and a manhunt has been launched to nab the accused, he said.

The victim has been sent for medical examination, the deputy SP added.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)