A special CBI court in Panchkula on Friday sentenced three persons to life imprisonment for sexual abuse of destitute girls at Apna Ghar, a shelter for the destitute in Rohtak.
The CBI court pronounced the quantum of punishment on Friday after it had convicted nine people in the case on April 18.
The shelter home inmates were subjected to sexual abuse, physical and mental exploitation and used as bonded labour in the infamous Apna Ghar case.
Jaswanti Devi, the woman who ran the government-funded home, her son-in-law Jai Bhagwan and a driver, Satish, were sentenced to life imprisonment.
Jaswanti Devi’s brother, Jaswant Singh got seven years in jail. The sentences for her two employees, Sheela and Veena, and daughter Sushma were set off against the time they have already spent in prison.
Two others were ordered to be released on probation.
A lawyer for the convicts said they will appeal against the judgment in the High Court.
The Apna Ghar case had hit the national headlines in May 2012 after a team from the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) had rescued more than 100 inmates, mostly children and young girls, from the destitute home called Apna Ghar in Rohtak during a surprise raid.
Three inmates who had escaped from the shelter home on May 7, 2012 had alerted the authorities following which the raid was conducted.
The inmates of the shelter home were allegedly subjected to sexual abuse besides physical and mental exploitation and used as bonded labour.