Patna: The Balika Grih sexual exploitation case saw dramatic twists on Wednesday when the wife of an accused alleged that social welfare minister Manju Verma's husband Chandeshwar Verma used to frequently visit the shelter home in Muzaffarpur where at least 29 minor girls were raped, and the state women's commission chairperson said she had found evidence of abortions at the Grih.

Shibha Kumari Singh, wife of arrested district child protection officer Ravi Kumar Raushan, claimed her husband was innocent.

"My husband discharged his duty honestly. He is being framed in the case. The bigwigs involved in it are being saved. Nobody is investigating why minister Manju Verma's husband used to visit the short stay home for girls," Shibha said.

"The minister's husband used to leave officials and security personnel downstairs and would go alone to the short stay home and spend hours there. What was his purpose and in what capacity did he do this? The girls used to call him 'Netaji'," she added.

Shibha said only a CBI probe, which the government has so far refused to order, could bring out the truth.

The social welfare department has jurisdiction over all shelter homes, and the minister belongs to chief minister Nitish Kumar's JDU.

As the allegations set the political scene in the state on fire, the minister came to her husband's defence.

"It is a fact that when I became a minister, my husband accompanied me along with my security personnel and other officials to Balika Grih in February this year. I could have unknowingly committed a mistake by taking him there, but it was not such a big error due to which such a serious allegation is being levelled against him," Manju said.

The minister said that the name of her husband, a former MLC, surfaced only after leader of Opposition in the Assembly Tejashwi Prasad Yadav and other Opposition politicians visited Balika Grih on Wednesday.

"This is a conspiracy to malign my image. I am willing to face any investigation," Manju said.

State women's commission chairperson Dilmani Devi, who had visited Muzaffarpur earlier, said on Wednesday that medical examination had confirmed that at least three girls were made to undergo abortions at the Balika Grih.