More than 40 minor girls were reportedly assaulted at the shelter. Initially investigated by the Bihar Police, the Supreme Court later transferred the case to the CBI and moved the trials, except those under the SC-ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, to Delhi as the victims belonged to marginalized communities.
![[Bihar Shelter Rapes] Brajesh Thakur, Two Others Acquitted in SC-ST Case, Cites "Lack of Evidence"](https://i0.wp.com/lawchakra.in/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Brajesh-Thakur-_-Brajesh-to-be-hit-with-fresh-case-Telegraph-India.png?resize=820%2C488&ssl=1)
Muzaffarpur, Jan 2: Brajesh Thakur, accused of sexually assaulting several girls at a shelter home in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district, was acquitted alongside two associates by a special SC-ST court on Thursday (2nd Jan) due to “lack of evidence.”
Thakur and his associates, Shaista Praveen alias Madhu and Krishna Kumar, will remain in jail as they were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment by a Delhi court in 2020 for other related cases involving the 2018 incidents that shocked the nation.
The SC-ST court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Ajay Kumar Mall acquitted the trio in a case involving the disappearance of 11 women and four girls, citing insufficient evidence. All three, currently serving life sentences for sexually and physically assaulting girls at the shelter home, were transported from Delhi’s Tihar Jail under tight security.
The shelter home, run by Seva Sankalp Aur Vikas Samiti, a state-funded non-profit headed by Thakur with alleged political connections, came under scrutiny after the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) submitted a report to Bihar’s Social Welfare Department highlighting severe sexual abuse.
More than 40 minor girls were reportedly assaulted at the shelter. Initially investigated by the Bihar Police, the Supreme Court later transferred the case to the CBI and moved the trials, except those under the SC-ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, to Delhi as the victims belonged to marginalized communities.
In a detailed 3,100-page judgment, the Delhi court convicted Thakur and 11 others, including nine women, on multiple charges, including aggravated penetrative sexual assault under the POCSO Act and rape under the IPC.
Following the Muzaffarpur acquittal, Madhu’s lawyer, Priya Ranjan, noted that the case had four accused, one of whom passed away during the trial.
FOLLOW US FOR MORE LEGAL UPDATES ON YOUTUBE
