agencies / NEW DELHI
CBI today informed the Supreme Court that 11 girls have been allegedly murdered by key accused Brajesh Thakur and his accomplices in the Muzaffarpur shelter home sexual abuse case and the agency is probing into it.
CBI shared this information in reply to an application claiming that the CBI was trying to shield the real perpetrators.
Several girls were allegedly raped and sexually abused at an NGO-run shelter home at Muzaffarpur in Bihar and the issue had come to light following a report by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS).
The apex court had in February transferred the case from Bihar to a Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) court in Delhi.
The CBI got wind of the alleged murders from the rescued children. The names of the girls, who have mysteriously disappeared from the balikagarh (girls’ home), emerged in the statements of the children that said the 11 were murdered by Thakur and his accomplices.
In its seventh status report to the Supreme Court, the CBI, which is facing allegations that its probe into the grizzly case is a “hogwash”, said a scrutiny of the home register so far revealed that a total of 35 girls with identical or similar names had lived there at one point of time or the other. A “field-level verification” about their existence was on. The CBI assured the court of an update in its next status report.
The CBI also revealed how one of the accused, Guddu Patel, led them to a “particular spot in a burial ground”.“A bundle of bones was recovered in excavation,” the CBI told a Bench led by Chef Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi on Friday.
The CBI is fire-fighting rising criticism over the delay in slapping murder charges against the accused. “Further investigation is still on. Therefore, to contend that the allegations of murder have not been looked into or that graver provisions of law have not been invoked is entirely misconceived and premature,” it submitted.
An application in a writ petition filed by Nivedita Jha in the court accused the CBI of avoiding crucial leads to shield the perpetrators. It alleged that the CBI has already diluted the case.
In its defence, the CBI said it has charge-sheeted “outsiders” who used to visit the home. These persons were named by the children in their statements as being involved in the crimes committed in the home. The names of all these people, which include the Muzaffarpur child protection officer and a child welfare committee member, have been included in the charge sheets.
The CBI said the trial court had framed charges against 20 accused for offences under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, the Indian Penal Code and the Juvenile Justice Act.
The court decided to hear the case in detail on May 6.