Manju Verma had resigned as the Social Welfare Minister of Bihar in August. (File)
Janata Dal (United) leader and former minister Manju Verma, who is linked to Muzaffarpur shelter home sex abuse cases, has been suspended from the party today, news agency ANI reported.
The decision comes three days after the Supreme Court ripped into Bihar government for its inability to arrest her and had asked state police chief to be present at the court on November 27, if Ms Verma has not been traced by then.
A non-bailable arrest warrant was issued against Ms Verma on November 1 after the top court hauled up the Nitish Kumar government on why the former minister wasn't she arrested for three successive days.
"Is the former minister above the law," the top court had asked and observed "something is wrong with the Bihar government."
In August, the police had raided Ms Verma's in connection with the Muzaffarpur shelter abuse case and seized 50 live cartridges from one of her houses. Later, an arrest warrant against her under the Arms Act.
She had resigned as the Social Welfare Minister of Bihar in August after her husband, Chandrashekhar Verma, came under fire for allegedly visiting the Muzaffarpur shelter home many a time. Mr Verma, a close aide of the prime accused in the case, Brajesh Thakur, has since been surrendered.
Over 40 young girls were sexually abused in the Muzaffarpur shelter home. The sexual exploitation of the girls was first highlighted in an audit report by the Tata Institute of Social Science (TISS) to the state government's social welfare department in April. The first case was filed on May 31 against 11 people, including Brajesh Thakur.