Madhu Kumari alias Shahista Parbeen, a close aide of Brajesh Thakur — the prime accused in the Muzaffarpur shelter home sexual abuse case — was produced before a Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) court Wednesday in connection with the case and sent to five-day CBI remand. Madhu (45), who had been in-charge of operations at Thakur’s NGO in Muzaffarpur, is the nineteenth accused in the case, investigation for which is being monitored by the Supreme Court. The high-profile scandal had come to light in May this year following a social audit of the shelter homes in Bihar conducted by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) earlier this year. On Tuesday, the CBI had arrested Madhu and a Muzaffarpur-based private medical practitioner, Dr Ashwini Kumar, another associate of Thakur, in connection with the case. According to CBI sources, Madhu was associated with Thakur since 2001 and had also worked for his ‘Swadhar Kendra’ shelter home in Muzaffarpur. Her interrogation, they said, could provide vital leads in the case, especially regarding the alleged sexual exploitation of the girl inmates. “Since over a dozen girls alleged in their statement before the judicial magistrate about their sexual exploitation and dubious role of shelter home staffers, Madhu has become an important link for the probe. She should have been aware of every visitor at the home,” a CBI source said. Madhu had been “using her garb of social worker to assist Brajesh Thakur in alleged nefarious act”, the source added. According to the CBI source, recovery of sedatives from the Muzaffarpur shelter home, absence of visitors’ records and CCTVs cameras, and almost zero medical records of the inmates, coupled with the allegations of torture levelled by several girls had led the investigating agency to believe that Madhu and Dr Kumar had been “very important catches”. Medical reports of over 30 girls had suggested abuse. A senior official at Muzaffarpur Collectorate told The Indian Express that Madhu’s name was also recommended for a district-level women’s award in 2015 because of “Thakur’s clout in the government”. He was referring to the Zila Mahila Samman, awarded to one woman from each district for outstanding contribution in social service. Madhu was closely associated with Vama Shakti Vahini — a voluntary group that was awarded the state government’s AIDS awareness campaign in 2007.
