Delhi court reserves for mid-November order on Muzaffarpur shelter home sexual assault case

A Delhi court will pronounce in mid-November its judgment in the Muzaffarpur shelter home case wherein several girls were allegedly sexually and physically assaulted, a lawyer said Monday. Additional Sessions Judge Saurabh Kulshreshtha, during the in-camera trial, said he will pronounce the order in the middle of November, the lawyer privy to the proceedings said.

The court reserved the order after concluding final arguments advanced by the counsel for CBI and various accused persons in the case, he said. The court had earlier framed various charges, including criminal conspiracy to commit rape and penetrative sexual assault, against 21 people in the case.

Brajesh Thakur, the prime accused in the case, was charged under provisions of the POCSO Act, including Section 6 (aggravated sexual assault). The offence carries a punishment of minimum 10 years and maximum of life imprisonment.

The accused include employees of his shelter home and Bihar department of social welfare officials. They have pleaded innocence and claimed trial.

On February 7, the Supreme Court had ordered authorities to transfer the case from Bihar to a Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) court in Saket District Court complex in Delhi. Several girls were allegedly raped and sexually abused at an NGO-run shelter home in Muzaffarpur, Bihar. The issue had come to light following a report by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS).

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