Muzaffarpur shelter home: Close aide of Brajesh Thakur claims no direct allegations against him

An accused in the Muzaffarpur shelter home sexual assault case Wednesday claimed before a Delhi court that there were no direct allegations or enough evidence against him.

Ashwani Kumar, a close aide of main accused Brajesh Thakur, made his submissions before Additional Sessions Judge Saurabh Kulshreshtha who was hearing arguments on the point of framing of charges in the case.

The court after hearing the counsel for Kumar posted the matter for March 18 and in all likelihood will frame the charges after the Holi break.

Kumar was associated with Thakur's NGO 'Sewa Sankalp Aur Vikas Samiti' as a doctor and he allegedly used to administer injections laced with sedatives to the girls at shelter home before they were subjected to sexual abuse.

The counsel for Kumar argued that there were no specific allegations against him on rape or assault, so no charges should be framed against him, especially on stringent sections of the Indian Penal Code and the POCSO Act.

Advocate Gyanendra Mishra said that the court also directed the probe agency that the witnesses would be brought in a batch of five.

The court asked the DGP, Bihar to provide all support and help in bringing the witnesses to Delhi.

All the accused have denied the allegations levelled against them by the CBI and said there was not enough evidence to prosecute them.

CBI had earlier claimed in the court that several girls were sexually assaulted in the shelter home and charges for the offences under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) including Section 375 (rape) and POCSO Act were made out against the accused.

Several girls were allegedly raped and sexually abused at an NGO-run shelter home in Muzaffarpur, Bihar, and the issue had come to light following a report by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS).

On February 7, the Supreme Court had ordered transfer of case from Bihar to a Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) court in Saket District Court complex in Delhi and stated that the trial be concluded within six months by preferably holding day-to-day hearing.