Four persons sent to CBI custody in Bihar shelter home scandal

A court here on Friday sent four persons, including an official of the state social welfare department, to CBI custody till September 24 in connection with the shelter home sex scandal.

Special POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses) judge R P Tiwari passed the order after the four accused-- Rosy Rani, Guddu, Vijay and Santosh-- were produced at his residence by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) which had arrested all of them a day ago.

Rani was posted as an assistant director in the department during 2015-17 and has been accused of not taking any action despite having been informed about the abuse of inmates at the shelter home.

The others were employed by Brajesh Thakur, the prime accused in the scandal, who headed the NGO that ran the shelter home.

Before being produced in the court, the four were taken to a hospital here for medical examination.

Thakur was arrested by police in June, soon after an FIR was lodged by the department upon report of sexual abuse in social audit conducted by Mumbai-based Tata Institute of Social Sciences. The case was handed over to the CBI in July.

Medical reports have confirmed that more than 30 girls lodged at the shelter home had suffered sexual abuse.

The shelter home has since been sealed, Thakur's NGO blacklisted and its registration cancelled while all the girls lodged there have been shifted elsewhere.

State social welfare minister Manju Verma had also resigned in August following reports alleging close links between Thakur and her husband Chandrashekhar Verma.