Absconding Bihar exminister Manju Verma surrenders

PATNA: Bihar’s ex-social welfare minister and suspended Janata Dal (United) MLA Kumari Manju Verma surrendered before a Begusarai court on Tuesday almost three months after a first information report (FIR) was lodged against her in an Arms Act case filed after live cartridges were discovered at one of her houses during a raid conducted in connection with a sex scandal at a Muzaffarpur shelter home.

The Supreme Court had set a November 27 deadline a fortnight back for Bihar police to arrest Verma failing which it had summoned the Bihar director general of police to appear before the court.

Verma came under the scanner in July, after her husband Chandrasekhar Verma was linked to Brajesh Thakur, the prime accused in the Muzaffarpur shelter home case. Begusarai SP Awakash Kumar confirmed the former minister’s surrender before the Manjhaul sub-divisional court. The court remanded Verma to 14 days in judicial custody.

Additional chief judicial magistrate Prabhat Trivedi passed the order after a medical team examined the condition of the former minister, who fell unconscious several times after reaching the court. She kept her face covered during the hearing.

More than 40 young girls were sexually abused in the Muzaffarpur shelter home. The sexual exploitation of the girls surfaced in an audit report that Tata Institute of Social Science (TISS) submitted to the state social welfare department in April.

After the Supreme Court came down heavily on the state government for three successive days, a non-bailable arrest warrant was issued against Verma on November 1. “Is the former minister above the law,” the top court had asked during a hearing.