Muzaffarpur Shelter Home Verdict Likely To Be Pronounced Today

A Delhi court is likely to pronounce its verdict on Tuesday in a case that pertains to the alleged sexual and physical assault of several girls at a shelter home in Muzaffarpur, which was run by former Bihar People’s Party (BPP) MLA Brajesh Thakur. It is to be noted that the judgment in the case was supposed to come on December 12, 2019. However, the court deferred the order by a month till January 14, 2020 due to the unavailability of the concerned judge.

Earlier, in November last year, the court had deferred the order by a month till December 12 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.

It is worth mentioning here that the court had on March 20, 2018, 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 the trial for the offences of rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment, drugging of minors, criminal intimidation among other charges.

Thakur, employees of the shelter home, and the officials of the Bihar department of social welfare were charged with criminal conspiracy, neglect of duty and failure to report the 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 the 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.

Also Read: Muzaffarpur Shelter Home: Girls, Alleged To Have Been Murdered, Found Alive, CBI Tells Top Court

However, those accused have claimed that the CBI had not conducted a “fair investigation” into the case, which has been registered under the provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and entails life imprisonment as the maximum punishment.

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