Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
Panchkula, April 18
A local court on Wednesday found nine people guilty of having sexually exploited minors in a 2012 case that infamously came to be known as the Apna Ghar sexual abuse.
The court will pronounce its sentence on April 24.
Abuse at Apna Ghar, an orphanage in Rohtak, hit national headlines when the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) rescued some 103 inmates—mostly children and young girls—after a surprise raid on May 9, 2012.
In its charge sheet filed on April 7, 2012, the Central Bureau of Investigation accused seven people— prime accused Jaswanti Devi, her daughter Sushma, her son-in-law Jai Bhagwan (who is not married to Sushma), Satish, her brother
Jaswant Singh, Veena and her cousin Sheela—of sexually exploiting inmates at the orphanage.
The inmates also accused the suspects of human trafficking.
The CBI filed charges against three others—Roshni, Ram Prakash Saini and Angrez Kaur Hooda—in its second charge sheet on September 16, 2013.
All accused were charged with rape (Section 376), forced labour (374), causing miscarriage without woman’s consent (313) and criminal conspiracy (120-B) of the Indian Penal Code.
Of the 10 accused in the case, court on Wednesday acquitted one—Hooda—of all charges.
The shelter was run by Jaswanti Devi’s NGO called Bharat Vikash Sangh at Rohtak’s Shrinagar Colony.
Several victims identified prime accused Jaswanti Devi during trial. A victim recounted how Jai Bhagwan sexually abused another victim in front of her.
