Can question Apna Ghar accused in presence of lawyer, court tells CBI
The CBI has now been granted permission to interrogate 9 of total 10 accused in the Rohtak shelter home sexual abuse case at Ambala jail in presence of a lawyer by special CBI court.
After being denied police remand of two accused in the Rohtak shelter home sexual abuse case, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has now been granted permission to interrogate nine of total 10 accused at Ambala jail.
Earlier, the investigative agency had got two-day police remand of Bhim Singh Ranga, first investigating officer in the case, who was accused of illegally handing over the case property, including laptops, to Dayanand, another accused in the case.
The magistrate of special court of CBI Gurvinder Kaur had allowed the interrogation of the nine accused till July 31, but only in the presence of lawyer of the accused.
While, Jaswanti Devi’s, caretaker of the shelter home and main accused in the case, police remand could not be sought (as the Haryana police had exhausted the permitted police custody of 15 days in her case), the CBI had sought seven-day police remand of Jaswanti’s son-in-law Jai Bhagwan and her driver Satish.
Both of them were serial rapists as revealed in the statements of the victims.
But the court denied the police remand of the duo as they were arrested on May 10 and first 15 days after their arrest had already passed.
The other accused in the case are — Jaswanti’s daughter Simmi, brother Jaswant Singh, cousin Sheila, Apna Ghar counsellor Veena, and Jaswanti’s acquaintances Dayanand and Harvinder.
A total of 103 children were residing in Apna Ghar run by non-governmental organisation Bharat Vikas Sangh in Shri Nagar Colony, Rohtak.
The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) had conducted a surprise raid at the shelter home on May 9 after which the case had come to light.
Later, a four-member advocates’ committee, constituted by the high court, had submitted in its report after interviews of 101 inmates that they were subjected to sexual assault, brutal beating, starvation, naked parade, pornography, forcible abortions, forceful intoxication by Jaswanti Devi, her relatives, outsiders and also policemen.
The case was handed over to the CBI, which registered an FIR on July 12, and arrested the 10 accused on July 18.