Former Bihar minister Manju Verma’s husband surrenders, to be questioned about shelter home rapes
In September, the SC had asked police to investigate the couple in connection with the recovery of a large quantity of ammunition from their possession.
Chandrashekhar Verma, husband of former Bihar Social Welfare Minister Manju Verma, surrendered in a local court in Begusarai on Monday, PTI reported.
In September, the top court had asked Bihar Police to investigate the couple in connection with the recovery of a large quantity of ammunition from their possession. Chandrashekhar Verma will also be questioned about his alleged links with Brajesh Thakur, the owner of a shelter home in Muzaffarpur where 34 minor girls were reportedly raped, News18 reported. Thakur is among the 11 accused in the case. The wife of one of the accused in the case had alleged that Chandrashekhar Verma use to visit the shelter home regularly.
Judicial Magistrate Yogesh Kumar Mishra on Monday remanded him to judicial custody till November 6.
On October 23, the Supreme Court had questioned the delay in tracking Chandrashekhar Verma down.
In August, the Bihar Police registered a first information report against Manju Verma and her husband after 50 cartridges were found at her in-laws’ house during a raid. The raid was conducted in connection with the alleged rapes at the shelter home in Muzaffarpur district.
On October 9, the Patna High Court had quashed a plea seeking anticipatory bail for Manju Verma in a case under the Arms Act, reported PTI.
The minister had stepped down from her post on August 8 after allegations surfaced about her husband Chandeshwar Verma’s links to Brajesh Thakur, who used to run the shelter home. She accused the media and the Opposition of creating a furore and demanded that Thakur’s call records be made public.
The alleged sexual exploitation of children in the shelter in Muzaffarpur came to light after Mumbai’s Tata Institute of Social Sciences submitted an audit report of 110 shelter homes in Bihar in April. The audit had been ordered by the state government, which filed a first information report against 11 people, including Thakur, on May 31. A medical report confirmed the sexual assault of 34 inmates.