In another incident that further tightens the noose around Bihar's Aasra Shelter home, two women managed to run away from the house despite tight security, police said on Thursday. The shelter home located at Patna's Rajeev Nagar had recently hit the headlines after two girls died under mysterious circumstances.
The Patna police confirmed that the women -- Mira Kumari (30) and Anita Kumar (35) -- reportedly ran away from the third floor of the shelter home on Wednesday night. Of the two women, one of them is mute and she was brought in May 2018; the second woman was brought to the shelter on August 3. A raid was conducted on Thursday night but there no trace of the girls could be found. The home was being run under the supervision of Daisy Kumari.
Aasra shelter home came into news earlier this month when two girls staying there were brought dead to the Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH). The Bihar police had detained the shelter home's secretary and treasurer in connection with the two deaths and sent them to three-day police custody.
A medical board has been constituted to investigate the matter. The District Magistrate Ravi Kumar HAD said, "Two people have been arrested. We have got the report of one deceased person. Postmortem of the second person is being done. All aspects of the case are being investigated. Action will be taken against the culprit."
Deputy Superintendent of Police, Law and Order (Patna), Manoj Kumar Sudhanshu said according to the Rajiv Nagar shelter home authorities, the two inmates -- aged 17 and 21 years -- were taken to the hospital following complaints of diarrhoea and high fever. "While the shelter home claimed the women died during treatment at Patna Medical College last night, the hospital authorities said the inmates were brought dead. Police was informed about the deaths only this morning," Sudhanshu told reporters.
"As per protocol, we informed the police and conducted the postmortem. As they were brought dead there's no question of ailment. The postmortem will reveal the cause of the deaths," said Superintendent, Patna Medical College and Hospital.
Patna District Magistrate and Senior Superintendent of Police reached Rajeev Nagar police station to question the five people related to an NGO, who have been detained.
The shelter home came into news when it was recently reported that four of its inmates had tried to run away. The police then carried out an investigation and arrested a person, living in the vicinity. He was alleged to have been luring the inmates by offering gifts.
The shelter home was raided following which several loopholes were found in its premises. During further probe on the same day, a total of 75 women were found at the shelter home.
The shelter home added fuel to the growing cases of atrocities at shelter homes across the country, with cases of alleged sexual abuse and ill-treatment coming out of Muzzafarpur in Bihar, Deoria in Uttar Pradesh and Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh.
