Girl at shelter home in Bihar's Begusarai 'swallows' glass shards in suicide bid, admitted to hospital

Begusarai: A 12-year-old girl inmate of a state-funded shelter home was hospitalised after she allegedly swallowed glass shards in a bid to commit suicide due to the ’torture’ inflicted upon her. Hailing from Assam’s Kamrup district, the girl was admitted to Sadar hospital by the shelter home staff on Sunday evening after she told them about it, the superintendent of the welfare home Anuja Kumari said. Talking to media persons in the hospital, the girl alleged that inmates were beaten and not given adequate food at the shelter home run by an NGO in Ratanpur area of Begusarai. [caption id=“attachment_5106641” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Bihar police. Reuters[/caption] She further claimed that the shelter home’s warden had threatened to strip and thrash her for not admitting to stealing a shampoo pouch. The fear of being physically assaulted forced her to think of committing suicide, the girl said, adding that she did not wish to return to the welfare home. However, the District Social Welfare Department Assistant Director (Child Protection Unit) Vasudev Kashyap claimed that the girl had raised a false alarm. No glass pieces were found in the ultrasound test of the girl, Kashyap said, adding that no police case was filed in the matter. Although, Sadar Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Sanjiv Kumar Choudhary said the case was being investigated. Officials of the social welfare department were sent to the site to probe the matter. Stern action will be taken against those found guilty, the SDPO said. According to police sources, the girl was recovered from Lakhisarai district three months ago after she left her home due to a love affair. The children welfare committee, Lakhisarai sent her to the girl’s shelter home in Begusarai. Bihar was recently rocked by the reports of sexual abuse of girls in a state-run shelter home in Muzaffarpur. Later, the death of two inmates in an another welfare home in Patna had again thrown the spotlight on sordid tales of child abuse at such places.