Muzaffarpur shelter-home: Brajesh Thakur spend days at jail-hospital, not barrack
Brajesh Thakur, the prime accused in the Muzaffarpur shelter home horror, is lodged at a hospital ward inside the Muzaffarpur district jail, and not the barracks, ET reports. Thakur spent almost 40 days since his arrest on June 2 at the Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital in the jail. The other nine accused are lodged in barracks. Here's more about it.
Jail SP Rajiv Kumar Jha confirmed that Thakur was kept in the hospital ward after a conversation with SKMCH doctors. He added Thakur suffered from a slipped disc, his blood pressure fluctuated, and it could lead to a heart attack. Hence, he needed to be kept under observation. "Who will be responsible if something happens to him in the barrack," asked Jha.
"He may have done any crime, but that does not mean we do not give him proper treatment. That is his right. What if he dies - then you will say he died as part of some conspiracy," Jha added.
Legal experts, quoted by ET, said Thakur may use his health to seek bail from Patna HC. Him being regularly lodged in the hospital can be cited as a reason. Thakur is an influential businessman, who owned Balika Grih, a shelter house where tens of girls were raped, thrashed, and even killed. Earlier, a POCSO court had rejected Thakur's bail plea.
The treatment meted to minors inside the house, meant to protect them, started country-wide agitation with Opposition leaders Tejashwi Yadav (RJD), Rahul Gandhi (Congress), and Arvind Kejriwal (AAP) protesting at Jantar Mantar. Under pressure, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said the guilty will not be spared. But he also made a disappointing remark by saying attention was paid to only negative incidents.
