Muzaffarpur shelter home case: Victimised for being woman, belonging to weaker community, says Manju Verma

Patna: Former Bihar Minister Manju Verma, who has been arrested in an Arms Act case in connection with the Muzaffarpur shelter home scandal, on Friday claimed that she has been victimised as she is a woman and belongs to a weaker community. Verma, earlier in the day, was produced before a court in the Arms Act case.

“Why am I being tortured for the past 4 months? I'm being victimised because I belong to the weaker community because I'm from Kushwaha community and I'm a woman,” Manju Verma said.

On November 20, the former Bihar Minister surrendered before a Begusarai court which then sent her to a one-day police remand. She was evading arrest in the Arms Act case which cropped up in course of a CBI probe into the Muzaffarpur shelter home sex scandal.

She was earlier proclaimed an "absconder" by the court which also ordered for attaching her properties. Following this, Bihar Police attached her Begusarai residence after she went missing following the investigation.

Manju Verma and her husband Chandrashekhar Verma were booked under the Arms Act at Cheria Bariyarpur police station in Begusarai following the recovery of a huge cache of arms ammunition from their residence. The recovery of the arms and ammunition was made during a raid at her residence by a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) team probing the alleged Muzaffarpur shelter home rape-murder and sexual abuse case involving over 30 minor girls.

She was forced to resign as the minister for social welfare from the Nitish Kumar government following reports that her husband had close links with Brajesh Thakur, prime accused in the Muzaffarpur case. Verma's husband had surrendered before a court on October 29.

The former minister was suspended by the Janata Dal-United (JDU) from the primary membership of the party.