Patna: Former Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for failing to speak even "a word" at a rally he addressed in Muzaffarpur on Tuesday on the infamous shelter home sex scandal in the north Bihar city. The RJD national vice-president and wife of jailed party chief Lalu Prasad vented her ire on the micro-blogging site Twitter. The leader of Opposition in the legislative council also accused Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and other state cabinet members of being "responsible" for the sexual abuse of inmates of the state-funded care unit.

The matter is being investigated by the CBI under the supervision of the Supreme Court. "It has been a year since the horrific scandal came to light. Modi has not spoken a word so far. The PM did not utter a word on this sordid episode at the rally where Nitish and his ministers, who have been responsible for the shameful incident, shared the stage," Rabri Devi tweeted.

The scandal had come to light last year when the Mumbai-based Tata Institute of Social Sciences, in its social audit report on shelter homes funded by the state social welfare department, had flagged complaints of sexual abuse of inmates of the Muzaffarpur shelter home. The issue rocked both houses of the legislature in the state as well as Parliament and investigation, which had led to arrests of several accused including prime accused Brajesh Thakur and a number of his close aides besides government officials, was handed over to the CBI.

On the directions of the Supreme Court, Thakur has been transferred to a jail in Patiala while the trial in the case has been shifted to a Special POCSO court in Delhi.