The latest Indian social thriller, Bhakshak, is making all the right noise in the public domain.
Streaming on Netflix, the movie shows the grit and determination of an independent journalist to bring to justice powerful people involved in a heinous crime.
Is it based on a real story though? Read on to find out.
Is Bhakshak Based on a True Story?
Officially, the film is only inspired by real-life events. The makers haven’t precisely named an actual incident via any platform.
However, in the same breath, Bhakshak’s opening credits tell us the movie is ‘inspired by certain real events.’
There have been many cases of abuse against girl children in shelter homes over the past years. But the one closest to Bhakshak’s plot is the 2018 Muzaffarpur Shelter Home abuse case.
Before deliberating further, let’s first dissect why is this specific incident the most similar to Bhakshak.
Similarities Between Bhakshak and the 2018 Muzaffarpur Shelter Home Abuse Case
1) The case came to the limelight following a social audit report just like in the Netflix film. In reality, the social audit was conducted by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS).
2) Moreover, the particular project by TISS to look into Bihar’s shelter homes was named “Koshish,” which is also the name of Vaishali’s news channel in Bhakshak.
3) Another interesting connection is that back then, the first news channel to cover the story of the shelter abuse was “Kashish News,” marking the second similarity to Vaishali’s channel.
4) Brajesh Thakur, the main accused in the case, ran three newspapers in different languages and had an NGO to his name called Sewa Sankalp Aur Vikas Samiti. Due to these credentials, he bagged contracts from the Bihar government to run Shelter homes and also gained the most advertisements. Bhakshak’s antagonist, Bansi Sahu, also carries the same traits.
Now, since we have enough matter, let’s see what really happened in 2018.
2018 Muzaffarpur Shelter Home Abuse Case Explained: The Real Story of Bhakshak
Originally, Project Koshish by TISS was never meant to investigate sexual abuse cases in Bihar’s government-funded shelter homes.
Its aim was to ascertain if there were any irregularities in the functioning of such institutions. Their initial ambit was limited to aspects like the well-being of residents and the quality of care provided to children.
However, by the time the audit finished, the researchers knew what the ground reality was. Their report highlighted the dreadful situation in 17 institutions.
One of these was Balika Grih, the focal point of Bhakshak. It was run by Brajesh Thakur’s NGO, Seva Sankalp Evam Vikas Samiti.
The social audit said that girls in the shelter home were drugged and sexually assaulted. However, even after two months of receiving the report, the Bihar government didn’t take any action and the issue remained under wraps.
A reason behind this was the involvement of several politically influential personalities.
Officials from the Bihar Social Welfare Department, to whom the report was submitted, were also part of the grave act.
As surprising as it might sound, Bihar’s Social Welfare Minister, Manju Verma, went missing after the case went to the Supreme Court.
No, she wasn’t kidnapped or taken by criminals. She feared arrest since her husband was a close associate of Brajesh Thakur, and he made her illegally favor the man on several occasions.
Though she later surrendered and was arrested, Manju got bail soon after.
How Did the Case Come to Light?
As I said earlier, the authorities had turned a blind eye to TISS’s audit report. When local newspapers dared to carry the story, they were taken to task by Thakur.
A male, TV journalist, Santosh Singh, who worked for Kashish News, was the first person to break the story on television, as per reports.
But his efforts couldn’t reap the desired results.
It wasn’t until an independent journalist, Nivedita Jha, took matters into her own hands that the masses came to be aware of the abuse of children at the Muzaffarpur Shelter Home.
She teamed up with the Bihar Mahila Samaj to protest against the government’s inaction. After a lot of toil, her efforts brought the desired results and the Police finally filed an FIR.
The case was transferred to the CBI thereafter and the central agency led the proceedings.
But was that the end?
Nivedita Jha had to file 4 PILs in the Supreme Court to make sure the proceedings went the right way.
The Patna High Court had banned any media reporting on Brajesh Thakur.
So, with her first Public Interest Litigation, she requested the topmost court to revoke the ban, and she succeeded.
The second PIL was regarding the investigation of only one shelter home by the CBI.
Her third attempt was regarding CBI’s botched-up investigation while the fourth questioned why the role of the members of the ruling party was not being looked into.
Considered impartial, CBI had once stated that the bodies recovered from the shelter home didn’t belong to the resident minor girls.
Had there not been public pressure, there was a high chance of zero punishment.
Clearly, many politicians and other influential people were involved in the crime, which led to various attempts to put it in the bag.
Is Vaishali Based on a Real Character?
I know it sounds like Vaishali’s character from Bhakshak is based on Nivedita Jha, but it isn’t true. The film has nowhere stated the same.
Moreover, Bhakshak has taken several creative liberties to make the story more acceptable on the screen.
Therefore, the makers have also delved into Vaishali’s personal life. If she had been a real character, the personal relationship would have become a gray zone for them to unravel.
Lastly, as I mentioned earlier, the case in real life was first brought up by a male journalist. So, again, we can see the creative freedom on part of the creators of Bhakshak.
Where is Brajesh Thakur Now?
He is serving his sentence of life imprisonment in the Patiala prison (according to information available as of 2019).
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