Rohtak shelter home horror: Three get life imprisonment
PANCHKULA: A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Panchkula sentenced three people to life imprisonment on Friday for sexually exploiting inmates at Apna Ghar, a shelter home for the destitute in Rohtak.
The shelter home inmates were subjected to sexual abuse, physical and mental exploitation and used as bonded labour in the infamous case, trial of which began in 2014.
Special CBI judge Jagdeep Singh awarded life term to main accused Jaswanti Devi, who was in-charge of the shelter home, her son-in-law Jai Bhagwan and driver Satish. Jaswanti’s brother, Jaswant, was awarded seven years’ imprisonment.
CBI senior counsel Jitender Kumar sought maximum punishment for these accused.
Jaswanti was sentenced to life term for abetting sexual abuse while other two life convicts were held guilty of rape and other charges.
Three other accused – Jaswanti’s daughter Sushma as well as employees Sheela and Veena – were let off with time served. Roshini, who had brought the child of the rape victim from Apna Ghar, and another employee, Ram Parkash Saini, were released on probation. Roshni is suffering from cancer.
The Apna Ghar case pertained to the sexual and physical abuse of inmates at the shelter, which included minors, adults and differently abled girls. The judge had convicted the accused on April 18 after taking various pieces of evidence and the victims’ testimony into account.
The accused faced multiple charges, including rape, gangrape, immoral trafficking, causing grievous hurt, molestation, performing abortions without consent, and cruelty towards minors.
The accused were arrested by the CBI in 2012, following a raid by the National Council for the Protection of Child Rights. Defence lawyers Vishal Narwana and Abhishek Rana said they would file an appeal in the high court against the verdict.
THE SHELTER’S INMATES, INCLUDING MINORS AND DISABLED GIRLS, WERE SUBJECTED TO SHOCKING SEXUAL AND PHYSICAL ABUSE
PANCHKULA: High drama was witnessed inside the CBI court in Panchkula when Jaswanti’s sonin-law Jai Bhagwan and driver Satish blamed each other for wrongdoings inside Rohtak’s Apna Ghar after the court awarded them life sentence.
But both were involved in raping the inmates inside the shelter home as it came out in the court verdict.
As per CBI chargesheet and National Council for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) report, Jai Bhagwan was a bully and a regular abuser and therefore no inmate dared to oppose him for the fear of being further abused physically or sexually.
A source in the CBI court, who wished not be identified, claimed that Jai Bhagwan confessed to have sexual relations with inmates during the sentencing on Friday, but claimed that it was consensual. CBI counsel Jitender Kumar rubbished his claims, saying that he was involved in raping many inmates. The CBI referred to the sexual abuse of deaf and dumb inmate by Jai Bhagwan, who later delivered a baby boy.
During trial, the CBI got the testimony of BK Mahapatra, senior scientific officer (biology) of Delhi-based Central Forensic Science Laboratory, in which he confirmed that the DNA profile of the victim’s baby had matched with that of Jai Bhagwan. As per NCPCR report, Jai Bhagwan was not Jaswanti’s real son-in-law.
Jaswanti was the second wife of one Prem Singh Narwal. Jai Bhagwan was married to Narwal’s daughter from his first wife.
This did not change his equation with Jaswanti. He was managing Apna Ghar’s affairs and regularly visiting it
Driver Satish too raped many inmates as it was revealed in the testimony of victims.
The CBI produced 121 witnesses
AFTER COURT VERDICT, JASWANTI’S SONINLAW JAI BHAGWAN AND DRIVER SATISH BLAMED EACH OTHER FOR WRONGDOINGS INSIDE ROHTAK’S APNA GHAR
out of which 37 witnesses deposed in the court and most of them stuck to their initial allegations of rape and physical abuse against the accused. Satish was also involved in abandoning the women and mentally challenged girls, whom the Jaswanti thought to be redundant and of no use to her in any manner.
JUDGE HAD GIVEN RAM RAHIM VERDICT TOO
CBI Judge Jagdeep Singh who sentenced three accused to life imprisonment in Apna Ghar sexual abuse case on Friday was the one who sent Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim to 20 years in jail last year for raping two women.