A Delhi court on Tuesday gave life term to 11 convicts including key accused Brajesh Thakur and three women in Muzaffarpur shelter home case. In addition, the court also slapped a fine of around Rs 32 Lakhs on Thakur.

"We will file an appeal in the court against the order," advocate Nishaank Mattoo, appearing for Brajesh Thakur, said.

Earlier on January 20, the court had convicted 19 accused in the case including Thakur, who was the owner of the non-governmental organisation (NGO) 'Sewa Sankalp Evam Vikas Samiti' that ran the home in Bihar. 

Additional Sessions Judge Saurabh Kulshreshtha convicted Thakur, who is also an MLA representing the Bihar People's Party (BPP), for aggravated sexual assault and gang rape, under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. 

The other accused included eight women, including staff of the Muzaffarpur shelter home as well as officials in the Department of Social Welfare, Government of Bihar. The court, however, acquitted one, and convicted 19. All of them were charged with criminal conspiracy, neglect of duty and failure to report an assault on the girls.

Notably, allegations of sexual and physical assault of several minor girls at the NGO-run shelter home in Muzaffarpur had come to light April 2018 following a report by Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) that was submitted to the Bihar’s social welfare department.

On May 2018, the Bihar government had shifted the minor girls to different protection homes and an FIR was lodged against 11 accused in the case. Later, the Supreme Court took cognizance of the matter in August and handed over the investigation to the CBI in November.

The Supreme Court had also tasked the CBI with probing similar allegations at 16 other shelter homes in Bihar, flagged by TISS in its report.