A 73-page charge sheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the Muzaffarpur shelter home sexual abuse case has revealed that the inmates were forced to dance on lewd songs in skimpy clothes and have sex with the guests of prime accused Brajesh Thakur.
The charge sheet filed before the special POCSO court read: “Those refusing to entertain the guests were offered only roti and salt at night, while those who danced were given good food." The CBI added that several child protection officers often sexually assaulted the girls and the doctor roped in for the health check-up of the inmates also hid the exploitation, offering abortion pills to the inmates instead.
The agency is carrying out Supreme Court-monitored investigation in the exploitation of minor girl inmates of Balika Grih, sponsored by the state government but run by Thakur-owned NGO Sewa Sankalp Evam Vikas Samiti.
The sexual abuse case came to light in April 2018 after a social audit report prepared by TISS on the status of all state-funded shelter homes in Bihar. The report found that the inmates were sexually exploited. Medical tests found that as many as 34 of the total 44 girls were sexually abused in the shelter home over a period of four years.
Subsequent probes have revealed that Thakur’s NGO was selected to run the home as he was politically connected and enjoyed immunity. The Supreme Court had described Thakur as a ‘very influential man’ and recommended shifting him to Punjab jail. The Muzaffarpur municipal corporation has dismantled the four-storey shelter home structure as it violation of building laws.
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