New Delhi, March 30: A Delhi court on Saturday, March 30, framed various charges, including criminal conspiracy to commit rape and penetrative sexual assault, against all the 21 accused persons in the Muzaffarpur shelter home sexual assault case, reported news agency PTI.  Over 34 minor girls, aged between 7 to 14 years, were allegedly drugged, raped and forced to sleep naked at the government-funded shelter home run by Brajesh Thakur, the main accused in the case. Muzaffarpur Shelter Home Rapes: Fresh Case Against Main Accused Brajesh Thakur as 11 Women go Missing from Another Shelter Home.

Additional Sessions Judge Saurabh Kulshreshtha put 21 accused on trial, and said that there was prima facie enough evidence against the accused.

The court framed charges under various sections of the POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act and other charges, besides ape (376) and criminal conspiracy.

The alleged mastermind in the case, Brajesh Thakur, was charged with serious charges under the POCSO Act, including Section 6 (aggravated sexual assault).

The charges also included offence of cruelty to child under their authority, punishable under the Juvenile Justice Act. All the accused, who appeared before court, pleaded innocence.

The Muzaffarpur shelter home case came to light after an audit report was issued by Mumbai’s leading research and academic institute – Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) which stated in its report that how the girls in the shelter home are becoming victims of sexual abuse.

Manju Verma, who was Bihar’s Social Welfare minister, resigned from her position after her husband was accused of having alleged links with Brajesh Thakur, the mastermind behind the scandal.

The top court had order Manju Verma's arrest too but rapped the government's counsel for failing to take Manju into custody, despite her anticipatory bail plea being rejected by the Patna High Court on October 9. Manju Verma finally surrendered before the police in November last year.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 30, 2019 04:34 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).