Nine convicted of sexually exploiting minors at orphanage

A court here on Wednesday convicted nine people, including a woman whose NGO was running an orphanage, of sexually exploiting minors while one person was acquitted.

The sexual exploitation at the Apna Ghar orphanage in Haryana's Rohtak town came to light in 2012.

The sentencing will be pronounced by the CBI court on April 24.

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights in May 2012 rescued over 100 inmates of the orphanage following a surprise raid. Most of those sexually exploited were children and young girls.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had, in its 2012 chargesheet, accused seven persons of committing crime against the minors. In an additional chargesheet in 2013, it added three more names.

These included NGO head Jaswanti Devi, her daughter Sushma and a son-in-law Jai Bhagwan. The CBI also accused them of human trafficking.

The CBI charged the accused with rape, forced labour and criminal conspiracy.

The case was handed over to the CBI following pressure from various quarters.

--IANS

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