CBI files chargesheet in Muzzafarpur shelter home scandal, names 21 accused

Prime accused Brajesh Thakur, who runs an NGO, is among those named in the chargesheet.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed its first chargesheet in connection with the sexual abuse of girls at a shelter home in Bihar's

, naming 21 people. 

Prime accused Brajesh Thakur is among those named in the chargesheet, said offcials. Thakur runs an NGO Seva Sankalp Evam Vikash Samiti that managed the shelter home. The CBI filed its chargesheet against Thakur, his employees, his associate Shaista Parveen and a government officer Rekha Rani before a special court.

The CBI chargesheet says the girls were subjected to sexual abuse and it slapped stringent Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act on the accused.

The chargesheet deals with alleged violation of rules, aiding and abetting the heinous crimes against the girls, criminal conspiracy and other charges.

More serious offences like murder, rape, and the involvement of people who were part of exploitation racket, will be chronicled in a future charge sheet, said officials.

They said identification of the perpetrators, alleged customers and others, is a time-consuming process as the victims, who are in shock and trauma, are not being examined by the CBI, but experts from the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS).

It is important that they are interviewed and counselled by experts because of the sensitive nature of the case, their age, and trauma that they bore for years, said officials.

Filing of this charge sheet will ensure that the arrested persons may be kept behind bars by the courts as they will not be able to exploit of the chance of seeking bail for the want of charge sheet even after 90 days of their arrest, they said.

The agency has alleged that the then assistant director of the state social welfare department Rekha Rani had known about the abuse at the NGO-run shelter home of Thakur, but she turned a Nelson's eye towards it.

Parveen's house was used by Thakur's aides for abusing the girls, said officials.