Muzaffarpur rape accused to be punished after speedy trial: Bihar dy CM

Muzaffarpur/Patna (Bihar), Jun 5 (PTI) Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Kumar Sinha on Thursday said "strongest possible punishment", after a "speedy trial", will be given to the accused in the rape and murder of a minor Dalit girl in Muzaffarpur district.

He made the statement at the victim's village in Kurhani sub-division of Muzaffarpur where he consoled the bereaved family members of the 10-year-old who died last week, several days after receiving grievous injuries in the sexual assault.

"I have taken stock of the entire situation. The accused will get the strongest possible punishment. To ensure timely justice, speedy trial will be conducted," said Sinha, when journalists approached him with queries.

Notably, the accused, who is a resident of the same village as the victim, has since been arrested by the police.

Sinha, however, parried questions about the girl allegedly not getting proper treatment at a hospital in Muzaffarpur, where she was admitted, with stab wounds all over her chest and abdomen, and being referred to Patna after her condition worsened.

Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition in state assembly, Tejashwi Yadav, who has been targeting the Nitish Kumar government over the incident, alleged that a family member of the girl was shoved by a BJP minister.

The RJD leader shared on his X handle a video, the veracity of which could not be independently verified by PTI, in which minister Kedar Gupta, who is also the MLA from Kurhani, can be seen with Sinha.

Gupta can be seen ticking off a person who was pestering him with queries.

Yadav, a former deputy CM himself, claimed, "This is the height of insensitivity on part of the Nitish government and its BJP ministers. When the bereaved family members flagged the negligence of the local administration, Kedar Gupta started shoving them." PTI CORR NAC ACD