Brajesh Thakur to spend his remaining life in jail

A Delhi court Tuesday sentenced Brajesh Thakur to imprisonment till his last breath for sexually assaulting several girls in a shelter home in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district, saying he was the “kingpin” of a “meticulously planned” conspiracy and “displayed extreme perversity”. Additional Sessions Judge Saurabh Kulshreshtha also sent 11 others to jail for life in the case.

The court sentenced Thakur to “rigorous imprisonment till remainder of his life” and imposed a hefty fine of Rs 32.20 lakh on him.

In view of rising sexual crimes against children, such offenders should be dealt with an iron hand in order to send a strong message in the society so as to deter others from committing such ghastly crimes, the court said.

“It is writ large that this is not a case of a single solitary incident of rape, but a meticulously planned and ingeniously executed conspiracy wherein the care-givers, the supervisors and the administrators in a state sponsored children’s home themselves turned into predators, perpetrators of crime and abettors and repeatedly subjected numerous minor girls to atrocious acts of rape and aggravated penetrative sexual assault over an extremely long period of time spanning about four years” it said. The court further noted that Thakur was not a young boy charged with a solitary offence but a mature and experienced politician charged with a plethora of crimes and he was the kingpin of the entire conspiracy.

“Further a person who is the owner of or who in fact manages or exercises control over the affairs of such a child care institution is expected to display compassion, sobriety and righteousness, but the convict not only betrayed the trust and faith of the victim girls but also displayed extreme perversity and monstrosity by committing such abhorrent acts with numerous helpless minor girls and therefore it is not a fit case for adopting the reformative and therapeutic approach,” it said.

The court noted that victims were minor girls in a state sponsored, state monitored and state funded children’s home, meant for providing a safe and secure environment to those in need of care and protection, and they were subjected to such horrendous acts of rape and sexual assault in that very home.

11 others also sentenced to life imprisonment