The Saket District Court of Delhi on February 11, 2020, has sentenced Brajesh Thakur to life imprisonment for sexually and physically assaulting several girls in a shelter home in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district.
Additional Sessions Judge Saurabh Kulshreshtha sentenced Thakur to life imprisonment for the remainder of his natural life. Brajesh Thakur was convicted of sexually and physically assaulting several girls at a shelter home in Muzaffarpur.
The matter had come to light on May 26, 2018, after Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) submitted a report to the Bihar government highlighting the alleged sexual abuse of minor girls in the shelter home for the first time.
The court on January 20 had convicted Brajesh Thakur of several offences, including aggravated penetrative sexual assault under Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 and offences of rape under the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860.
In its 1,546 page judgment, the court had also convicted Brajesh Thakur of offences under Indian Penal Code Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 324 (causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and those relating to abetment, Section 21 (failure to report commission of an offence) of the POCSO Act and Section 75 (cruelty to child) of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015.
The court had acquitted one Vikki in the case for want of evidence.
One of the female accused, Rosy Rani, former assistant director of child protection unit in Muzaffarpur, was convicted of offences under Section 21(1) (failure to report commission of an offence) of the POCSO Act.
Female accused -- Shaista Praveen, Indu Kumari, Minu Devi, Manju Devi, Chanda Devi, Neha Kumari, Hema Masih, Kiran Kumari -- were held guilty of criminal conspiracy, abetment to rape, cruelty to child and failure to report commission of an offence.
Author: Shubham Jindal
