Court sentences shelter home convict Thakur, 10 others to life term

A Delhi court on Tuesday sentenced former Bihar MLA Brajesh Thakur to life imprisonment till his last breath, in a case related to sexual and physical assault of several girls in a shelter home in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district.

Additional Sessions Judge Saurabh Kulshreshtha also sentenced 10 others to imprisonment for life in the case. The judge sentenced nine others to 10 years of jail term.

Pronouncing the order on sentence, the court also imposed fine of Rs 20 lakh on Thakur, who ran the shelter home, through his NGO 'Seva Sankalp Evam Vikas Samiti'.

On January 20, the court had held 19 persons, including prime accused and former Bihar People Party MLA, Thakur, guilty for the offences of rape, gang rape, aggravated sexual assault among others, under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offence Act.

The CBI took over the investigation in the case on July 28, 2018, after the issue of sexual exploitation of young girls came to light on an audit report by Tata Institution of Social Sciences, causing widespread outrage across the country and a huge embarrassment to the Nitish Kumar government.

The case was subsequently on February 7, 2019, transferred to Delhi court for trial.