Muzaffarpur shelter home case: Manju Verma sent to 1 day police remand

Patna, Nov 22: Former Bihar minister Manju Verma, who had been evading arrest in an Arms Act case, surrendered on Tuesday before a local court that sent her to judicial custody till December 1.

Verma, who stepped down as the state's social welfare minister following allegations of close links between her husband and Brajesh Thakur - the prime accused in the Muzaffarpur shelter home sexual abuse case - was reportedly hiding at the residence of her husband's relative in Naulakha village, just five km from the Manjhaul Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Court where she surrendered. Her husband, Chandra Shekhar Verma, had surrendered before the court on October 29.

The Supreme Court on Monday (November 12) rapped the two top most officials of Bihar asking why a former minister linked to the probe could not be traced. The top court also summoned the Director General of Bihar Police to appear before it on November 27 if the police fails to arrest Manju Verma by then.

The Bihar government on October 31 told the Supreme Court that Manju Verma had gone missing. Chandrashekhar Verma, the husband of Manju Verma, had last month surrendered before the District Court Manjhaul in connection with Muzaffarpur shelter home case. A team of CBI, investigating the Muzaffarpur shelter home rape case, had raided the former minister's house in Patna and Begusarai simultaneously on August 17 and recovered a huge cache of ammunition.

Manju Verma had resigned as the Social Welfare Minister in the Bihar government in the wake of Muzaffarpur case, where several women at a shelter home were allegedly raped and sexually abused, after it came to light that her husband Chandrashekhar Verma had spoken to prime accused Brajesh Thakur several times between January and June this year. Chandrashekhar Verma was the owner of the home. The alleged sexual exploitation of the girls was first highlighted in an audit report submitted by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) to the state's social welfare department.