CBI names 21 in Bihar shelter home case charge sheet

PATNA: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a charge sheet against 21 persons in connection with the Muzaffarpur shelter sexual abuse case, including prime accused Brajesh Thakur, the man who was managing the NGO, Seva Sankalp Evam Vikash Samiti which ran the shelter.

Additionally, the Patna branch of the Enforcement Directorate, which is also probing the case, has summoned Thakur’s wife, Asha Thakur and his son Rahul Anand for questioning on December 24 and 26 respectively.

The charge sheet has been filed in a sealed envelope at the special Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) court of ADJ-1, R P Tiwari.

Defense lawyer, Annu Babu said, “Since the charge sheet was filed in a sealed envelope, we couldn’t get any information on its contents, especially on the relevant sections invoked against the accused.”

The case pertains to the sexual exploitation of 44 girls allegedly by white-collared employees at the Ngo-run shelter home. The social welfare department had contracted the NGO to run the home in Muzaffarpur in 2013. Thakur’s NGO is said to have been selected because of his alleged connections to senior politicians of the ruling party and bureaucrats. Medical tests had found that as many as 34 of the 44 girls lodged at the government-fundedshelter home had been sexually assaulted. The Supreme Court had described Thakur as a very influential man and recommended shifting him from Bihar’s Central Jail to Punjab Jail.