In a sensational revelation, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday told the Supreme Court that 11 girls were allegedly murdered by key accused Brajesh Thakur and his accomplices and “bundle of bones” recovered from a burial ground in the Muzaffarpur shelter home sexual abuse case.
An affidavit filed by the CBI in the top court stated that from the statement of victims recorded during the probe, names of 11 girls have emerged, who were said to be allegedly murdered by Thakur and his accomplices.
The agency said that on the pointing out of one of the accused, a particular spot in a burial ground was excavated from where a bundle of bones was recovered.
At the shelter home in Muzaffarpur, at least 34 girls – aged seven to fourteen – were allegedly drugged, raped, forced to sleep naked and scalded with boiling water. Some of the girls were also forced to undergo an abortion.
The case came to light when the Bihar Social Welfare Department filed an FIR based on a social audit of the shelter home conducted by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.
An FIR was subsequently registered by the Bihar social welfare department and 10 persons, including prime accused Brajesh Thakur whose NGO ran the shelter home, were arrested.
The Supreme Court had in November last year transferred the investigation to the CBI after the Bihar government failed to handle the case with efficiency.
Subsequently, the probe agency chargesheeted 21 people, including Thakur.
“During the investigation, from the statement of victims recorded by IOs (investigating officers) and NIMHANS (National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences) team, names of 11 girls emerged who were said to be allegedly murdered by the accused Brajesh Thakur and his accomplices,” the CBI said.
“Based on the facts revealed by one accused, namely Guddu Patel during his interrogation, a particular spot in burial ground as identified by accused Guddu Patel was excavated and a bundle of bones were recovered from the spot,” CBI said in the affidavit filed on an application which had alleged that it had not conducted a proper probe in the case.
The matter came up for hearing on Friday before a bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Deepak Gupta.
The bench said that it would issue a formal notice to the CBI on the application and the agency would file its response within four weeks.
The CBI has said that investigation regarding allegations of murder was carried out by them soon after revelations were made by the victims.
“On scrutiny of the details of these 11 girls entered in the master register (of shelter home), it was found that there were a total of 35 girls with identical/similar names who at one time or the other stayed at Balika Grih, Muzaffarpur,” it said, adding that “as per revelation made by the inmates before IOs, all the alleged burial grounds were excavated by local police/CBI”.
The apex court had in February transferred the case from Bihar to a Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) court in Saket District Court complex in Delhi.
In November, the CBI had arrested two close aides of Brajesh Thakur, the prime accused in the Muzaffarpur shelter home sex scandal case, including his associate Shaista Parveen alias Madhu.
(With PTI inputs)