CBI to probe murder charges in Bihar shelter home case

New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation is investigating charges of murder and other offences in the Muzaffarpur Shelter Home case, sources here said on Thursday.

The development comes after the Supreme Court heard a plea demanding a thorough investigation into the case where girls were mentally, physically, and sexually abused at a shelter home in Bihar.

The fresh application has been filed by Nivedita Jha, a Patna-based writer, activist and independent journalist, on whose petition the Supreme Court had initially transferred the case to CBI.

Through her lawyer, Fauzia Shakil, she has questioned as to why serious charges of multiple gang rapes, rapes, and murders had been left out of the chargesheet filed by CBI in December last year.

In the chargesheet, CBI had charged all 21 accused including the mastermind, Brajesh Thakur, in the case under several Sections of the IPC, including Section 376(c), which is to be applied in cases of

sexual abuse by a person of authority.

The initial chargesheet also included charges under the POCSO Act.

According to sources familiar with developments in the case, investigations in the case are not yet completed and the murder charges against the accused are still being investigated.