Patna: All the 10 arrested accused, including the alleged mastermind behind the Balika Grih sexual abuse case, Brajesh hakur, were produced in the special Pocso court in Muzaffarpur through video conferencing on Saturday.
Brajesh had requested the special Pocso court to allow his appearance in the case lodged with the women's police station through video conferencing as he apprehended a threat to his life. The court later directed the Shaheed Khudiram Bose Cental Jail authority to provide the facility.
Incumbent jail superintendent Rajiv Jha confirmed the accused in the sexual exploitation and torture case deposed before the court through video-conferencing. Brajesh, who is lodged in the special cell, told the court that his life was under threat as he has been staying with hardened Maoists.
The court headed by R.P. Tiwari listened to his complaint patiently and assured to look into the matter. A woman had splashed black ink on Brajesh and attempted to smear his face when he was being escorted to the special Pocso court from the court hazat (lock-up) on August 8.
An FIR was also lodged with the town police station in connection with the incident. However, no action was taken against the accused, who is stated to be absconding after the incident.
"We are looking into the matter and the culprit will be brought to book at the earliest," said the station house officer (SHO) of Muzaffarpur town police station, Mohammad Sujauddin.
The SHO, however, claimed that the identity of the offender has already been ascertained.
"It is just a matter of time. We are alert and making all out efforts to arrest the accused," he told The Telegraph over phone from Muzaffarpur on Saturday.
Besides Brajesh, nine other accused arrested in the case have been identified as Kiran Kumari, Minu Kumari, Chanda Devi, Hema Masih, Manju Kumari, Indu Thakur, Vikas Kumar and Ravi Kumar Raushan. Ravi and Vikas are associated with the child protection unit.
However, one of the named accused, Dilip Kumar Verma, is still at large. The police had pasted a proclamation notice at his native village under the jurisdiction of Karza police station in Muzaffarpur recently.
The matter came to the fore during social audit of 110 shelter homes running in the state.
The social audit was conducted by Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai. The report mentioned sexual exploitation and torture of girls living at Balika Grih run by Seva Sankalp Evam Vikas Samiti reportedly owned by Brajesh.
The report had also highlighted the sorry state of affairs prevailing in over a dozen other shelter homes covered under the project.
