CHANDIGARH: A special CBI court on Wednesday convicted nine people in the infamous Apna Ghar sexual abuse case.
The court in Panchkula will pronounce its sentence on April 24.
Main accused Jaswanti Devi and eight others were found guilty of sexually exploiting minor inmates at the orphanage in Rohtak. Several victims had identified the main accused during trial. A victim recounted how a man sexually abused another victim in front of her.
In a surprise raid on May 9, 2012, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) had rescued some 103 inmates, mostly children and young girls, from the orphanage. Jaswanti Devi headed an NGO at Rohtak’s Shrinagar Colony that ran the orphanage.
Subsequently, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered a case and filed a charge sheet in which it named Jaswanti Devi, her daughter Sushma and her son-in-law Jai Bhagwan among others.
Later, the CBI filed a second charge-sheet against three others. All accused were charged with rape, forced labour, causing miscarriage without woman’s consent and criminal conspiracy. Of the 10 accused in the case, the court acquitted one woman - Angrez Kaur Hooda - of all charges.