Muzaffarpur shelter home mass-rape case: Delhi court to not pronounce order due to strike

Delhi Court will not be pronouncing the verdict in the case of alleged sexual and physical assault on several girls at a shelter home in Muzaffarpur pertaining to the continued lawyers' strike in all six district courts in Delhi. Lawyers in Delhi district courts continued to abstain from work on Thursday, demanding the arrest of the policemen who allegedly fired at their colleagues during a clash that took place in early November.

The Delhi Court reserved its order in the Muzaffarpur case on September 30 after final arguments by the CBI counsel and 11 accused in the case in which former Bihar Social Welfare minister and the then JD(U) leader Manju Verma also faced flak as allegations surfaced that Thakur, the key accused, had links with her husband. She had resigned from her post on August 8, 2018.

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The accused in the case have claimed that the CBI had not conducted “fair investigation” in the case, which has been registered under provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and entails life imprisonment as the maximum punishment. The cases were also registered under a criminal conspiracy to commit rape and penetrative sexual assault.

Muzaffarpur shelter home case

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). The TISS report was given to the Bihar Government on May 26, 2018, highlighting the alleged sexual abuses of minor girls in the shelter home for the first time.

On May 29 last year the state government shifted the girls from the shelter home to other protection homes. On May 31, 2018, FIR was lodged against the 11 accused in the case. The top court had on August 2 taken cognisance of the alleged sexual assaults of minor girls in Muzaffarpur’s shelter home and transferred the probe to the CBI on November 28.

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(With PTI inputs)