CBI Court Convicts 9 in Apna Ghar Sexual Abuse and Torture Case

Panchkula: A special CBI court has convicted nine people for sexually abusing and torturing women and children at the infamous Apna Ghar shelter home in Rohtak. The court reserved the quantum of punishment for April 24.

The abuses at the shelter home came to light when a team of National Commission for Protection of Child Right (NCPCR) rescued nearly 120 people, including children and women, after a surprise check in May, 2012.

Mounisha, who runs Don Bosco Ashyalan, was the first to rescue the girls following an alert by a child helpline in New Delhi. Consequently, the NCPCR on May 9, 2012, conducted a raid and rescued 103 inmates.

The woman who ran the NGO, Jaswanti Devi, her daughter Sushma alias Simmi, son-in-law Jai Bhagwan, brother Jaswant Singh, driver Satish and his sister Sheela were tried for rape, immoral trafficking, grievous hurt, molestation, forced abortion and treating children with cruelty.

The counsellor working with the shelter home was charged with causing forced miscarriages, unlawful labour, meting out cruelty to children and criminal intimidation. The court found her guilty on all counts.

Another accused, Roshni, took away a newborn from an inmate and created a forged birth certificate. The others who colluded with Jaswanti and Ram Prakash Saini were also convicted for making inmates work in the house.

Among the officers, Angrez Kaur Hooda, then Child Development Project Officer, Rohtak, who was responsible for regularly inspecting the shelter home was acquitted by the court due to “lack of proof".

Three inmates had escaped the shelter home on May 7, 2012, and reached Delhi to blow the lid off the crime, which then led to NCPCR intervention and arrest of 10 people

There were 35 victims among the witnesses, five were allegedly raped and the others subjected to molestation and beatings. It was also alleged that when an inmate was not willing to part with her child, she was not only beaten up, but scissors were inserted into her private parts.

After this case, the NCPCR, in a bid to avoid a repeat, advocated for the setting up of a State Commissions for Protection of Child Rights across the country.