New Delhi: A Delhi court Monday said it will decide on framing of charges in the Muzaffarpur shelter home sexual assault case on March 25. Additional Sessions Judge Saurabh Kulshreshtha posted the matter for the next date after hearing arguments of the CBI, which has chargesheeted 21 people. During the arguments the accused denied the allegations levelled against them. Several girls were allegedly raped and sexually abused at an NGO-run shelter home in Muzaffarpur, Bihar. The incidents came to light following a report by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS). An FIR was lodged in the case on May 31, 2018.
During the arguments, the accused told the court that there was lack of evidence against them to put them on trial. “There were several contradictions in the agency’s case. At one place they something else, the medical report produced by them says something else,” said Advocate Dheeraj Kumar Singh, who appeared for the prime accused Brajesh Thakur and others.
CBI had earlier claimed in the court that several girls were sexually assaulted in the shelter home and charges for the offences under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) including Section 375 (rape) and POCSO Act were made out against the accused.
On February 7, the Supreme Court had ordered transfer of case from Bihar to a court for Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) in Saket District Court complex in Delhi. It said trial in the case be concluded within six months by preferably holding day-to-day hearing.
