Muzaffarpur shelter home case: Court adjourns pronouncement of judgement till Jan 20
New Delhi, Jan 14: The Delhi court on Tuesday adjourned pronouncement of its judgement in the infamous Muzaffarpur shelter home case, which was run by former Bihar People's Party (BPP) MLA Brajesh Thakur, till Jan 20.
The court had earlier deferred the order by a month till January 14 as Judge Saurabh Kulshrestha, who had conducted the trial, was on leave.
Prior to that, in November, it had deferred the verdict by a month as 20 accused, who are currently lodged in Tihar central jail, could not be brought to court premises due to the lawyers' strike in all six district courts in the national capital.
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The court on March 20, 2018, had framed charges against the accused, including Thakur, for offences of criminal conspiracy to commit rape and penetrative sexual assault against minors.
The accused included eight females and 12 males.
The
court
had
held
trial
for
the
offences
of
rape,
sexual
assault,
sexual
harassment,
drugging
of
minors
and
criminal
intimidation
among
other
charges.
Key
accused
Thakur
and
employees
of
his
shelter
home
as
well
as
officials
in
the
Bihar
department
of
social
welfare
were
charged
with
criminal
conspiracy,
neglect
of
duty
and
failure
to
report
assault
on
the
girls.
The charges also included offence of cruelty to child under their authority, punishable under the Juvenile Justice Act.
All the accused, who appeared before the court, pleaded innocence and claimed trial. The offences entail a maximum punishment of life imprisonment.
The
court
had
reserved
order
on
September
30
after
final
arguments
by
the
CBI
counsel
and
20
accused
in
the
case
in
which
former
Bihar
Social
Welfare
Minister
and
then
JD(U)
leader
Manju
Verma
also
faced
flak
as
allegations
surfaced
that
Thakur
had
links
with
her
husband.
She
had
resigned
from
her
post
on
August
8,
2018.
The
CBI
had
told
a
special
court
that
there
was
enough
evidence
against
all
the
accused
in
the
case.
However, those accused have claimed that the CBI had not conduct a "fair investigation" into the case, which has been registered under provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and entails life imprisonment as the maximum punishment.
Additional
Sessions
Judge
Kulshreshtha,
during
the
in-camera
trial,
concluded
the
arguments
in
the
case
which
had
begun
on
February
25
last
year.
The
case
was
transferred
on
February
7
from
a
local
court
in
Muzaffarpur
in
Bihar
to
a
POCSO
court
at
Saket
district
court
complex
in
Delhi
on
the
Supreme
Court's
directions.
During the trial, counsel for the CBI told the court that the statements of minor girls, who were allegedly sexually assaulted, point to the fact that there was enough evidence against all the accused and they should be convicted.
The matter had come to light after the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) submitted a report to the Bihar government on May 26, 2018, highlighting the alleged sexual abuse of minor girls in the shelter home for the first time.
On May 29, 2018, the state government shifted the girls from the shelter home to other protection homes. An FIR was lodged against the 11 accused in the case on May 31, 2018.
The top court on August 2 had taken cognisance of the alleged sexual assaults of about 30 minor girls in Muzaffarpur's shelter home and transferred the probe to the CBI on November 28.