Patna: The National Human Rights Commission has taken suo motu cognisance of the alleged sexual exploitation of inmates of a shelter home in Bihar and issued notices to the state chief secretary and director-general of police (DGP) on Thursday, seeking a reply within two weeks to queries raised by journalists.

The NHRC notice says the media has reported that at least 16 girls were raped at the shelter homes. Forty-four girls were living in the home run by an NGO under the supervision of the social welfare department. Reportedly, the child protection officer of Muzaffarpur district has been arrested in connection with alleged sexual exploitation of girls in the shelter home.

The commission observed that the media reports, if true, point to a serious issue of human rights violation of the girls. "The shelter home is supposed to give security and protection to the girls. Under no stretch of imagination can the shelter home be a playing ground for predators. But in the present case, the girls apparently became victims of rape at the instance of their protectors. Government officials and shelter home staff were allegedly found to be involved in the incident," the commission remarked in its notice. It stressed that the state and the local administration had failed miserably to protect the rights and dignity of the girls.

The state authorities have been asked to reply on specific points. The first question raised by NHRC was whether any approval was given by the social welfare department to run the shelter home and what was the mechanism to monitor its functioning.

The second question was on whether any of the girls belonged to Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes. If yes, whether the police has registered an FIR under relevant sections of SC/ST Act and whether steps have been taken to pay monetary relief to the girls under SC/ST (POA) Rules. The third query was on whether any government official, as reported, was found involved in the incident. Details of the same were sought if true.