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Sexual abuse of minor girls: Muzaffarpur shelter home owner, 18 others found guilty

Of the 20 accused, including eight women, the court acquitted one man.

Brajesh Thakur, Brajesh Thakur Muzaffarpur shelter home case, Muzaffarpur shelter home case, Muzaffarpur shelter home abuse case, Muzaffarpur shelter home scandal, India news, Indian Express File photo of Brajesh Thakur, the main accused in the Muzaffarpur shelter home case. (PTI)

ALMOST TWO years after a report alleged sexual abuse of minor girls at a shelter home in Muzaffarpur (Bihar), a Delhi court on Monday convicted 19 people, including the shelter home owner, Brajesh Thakur.

Additional Sessions Judge Saurabh Kulshreshtha convicted Thakur under multiple counts of sexual assault, under Section 6 of the POCSO Act, sections related to rape, gangrape, criminal conspiracy, abetment and causing hurt by dangerous weapons under the IPC and Juvenile Justice Act. The offences carry a maximum punishment of life imprisonment.

Of the 20 accused, including eight women, the court acquitted one man. While the men were largely convicted under sections related to rape and aggravated sexual assault, the women were found guilty of abetment and conspiracy, in addition to some sections of the JJ Act.

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Most of those convicted worked at the shelter home as counsellors and attendants, while two were part of the local child welfare committee. One of them, who was the assistant director of the local district child protection unit, was found guilty under Section 21(1) of POCSO Act. The court released her after noting that she had already spent six months in prison, which is the maximum punishment for the offence.

As the court read out the verdict, Thakur, who was sitting with his arms crossed, remained expressionless. The women buried their faces in their hands and started sobbing. Some of the men rushed towards the judge and broke down in front of him, begging him to reconsider his decision. “I will not have this. I will not allow the accused persons to address this court like this,” the Judge said. He directed the lawyers for the accused to counsel them and allowed them five minutes to interact outside the courtroom.

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The court will hear arguments on the quantum of sentence on January 28.

“We will appeal after the sentencing… The witnesses in this case were not of stellar quality and there was no strong evidence which implicated my clients,” said Gyanender Mishra, counsel for five of those convicted.

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The Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) first reported the sexual assault at the shelter home, in a report to the Bihar government on May 26, 2018. Taking cognizance, the Supreme Court transferred the probe to the CBI.

In February 2019, the case was transferred from a local court in Muzaffarpur to a POCSO court in Delhi, on the directions of the Supreme Court. The case was heard on a day-to-day basis, and, after the charges were framed on March 30, the court examined 69 prosecution witnesses and 20 defence witnesses.

The CBI prosecutor, Amit Jindal, told the court that Thakur was the de facto owner of the shelter home, and there was evidence that the home was not “immune of rape, sexual abuse, sexual assault”.

First uploaded on: 21-01-2020 at 03:33 IST
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