Police arrest two in Patna shelter home deaths case

Inmates Poonam (17) and Babli (40) had fallen severely ill on the intervening night of August 10-11 and were rushed to hospital where they were declared brought dead.

Police on Monday said that they have arrested the manager and secretary of the NGO, which ran the shelter home for mentally-challenged women where two inmates died under mysterious circumstances recently.

An FIR was registered late on Sunday night against four persons. Among them, Chirantan Kumar and Manisha Dayal, manager and secretary of the NGO which ran the shelter home (pictured), were arrested. (PTI)

The shelter home is located in Nepali Nagar locality under Rajiv Nagar police station in Patna.

An FIR was registered late on Sunday night against four persons. Among them, Chirantan Kumar and Manisha Dayal, manager and secretary of the NGO ‘Anumaya’, respectively, were arrested, station house officer (SHO) of Rajiv Nagar police station Rohan Kumar said.

The other two accused — a doctor and an auxiliary nurse midwife attached to the shelter home — have been absconding since the deaths were reported, he said. The deaths in the shelter home ‘Aasra’ came close on the heels of the Muzaffarpur shelter home sexual abuse case.

Chirantan and Manisha, a former model, were arrested on Sunday night and they were being quizzed by a high-level inquiry committee which includes district magistrate Kumar Ravi and Senior Superintendent of Police Manu Maharaj.

Ravi told reporters, “Post-mortem reports of the two inmates rule out the possibility of any external injury. But their viscera has been preserved for further investigations.”

The inmates, Poonam (17) and Babli (40), had fallen severely ill on the intervening night of August 10-11 and were rushed to the PMCH hospital where they were declared brought dead.

Hospital sources claimed that the post-mortem was conducted in the presence of two sub-inspectors of police, but senior police officials have taken serious note of their failure to inform the police stations concerned.

Bihar social welfare director Raj Kumar said that while PMCH authorities claim the two women were brought dead, a department official who had accompanied them says that they had died while undergoing treatment.