POCSO court frames charges against 21 accused in Muzaffarpur shelter home rape case

A special Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) court here on Saturday framed charges against all 21 accused persons in the Muzaffarpur shelter home rape case.

Special POCSO judge Saurabh Kulshreshta will hold a trial for rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment, drugging of minors, criminal intimidation, cruelty and various other charges under POCSO, Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Juvenile Justice Act against all the accused persons.

After pronouncing the charges, Special Judge Kulshreshta posted the matter for further proceeding on Monday.

Aparna Bhatt is acting as the amicus curiae in the case.

Key accused Brajesh Thakur and employees of his shelter home, as well as officials of Bihar's Department of Social Welfare, have been charged with criminal conspiracy, neglect of duty and failure to report an assault on the girls.

Thakur has been charged under Section 5 (aggravated penetrative sexual assault) of the POCSO Act to which minimum punishment is five years while maximum punishment is life imprisonment.

He has also been charged under 376C(2) (punishment of sexual assault by a person placed in charge of a shelter home) of the IPC.

Advocated Promod Dubey appeared on the behalf of Thakur in the court.

Thakur along with Ravi Roushan, Ramanuj Thakur, Ashwani Kumar and Shahista Parween alias Madhu was present during the hearing. He was also charged with the offense of cruelty to a child under their authority under the Juvenile Justice Act.

The charge sheet filed by the CBI names 21 people including main accused Brajesh Thakur who used to run the shelter home funded by Bihar government where minor girls--44--were allegedly sexually abused over a period of time.

Earlier, a Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi had transferred the trial of the case from Bihar to a Delhi court and ordered the judge to complete it within six months.

The bench while transferring the trial to the Saket District Court, had said that it should be heard by a judge dealing with the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act cases since the victims are minors.

The apex court on October 31 last year had also rapped the Bihar Police for its failure in arresting former state minister Manju Verma, who came under scrutiny after it was found that her husband Chandrashekhar Verma allegedly had links with Thakur.