1. Incident

2. Investigation

3. Demands and opinions

4. Reactions and protests

5. References

6. External links

The Nirmala Panta rape and murder case ({{lang-ne|निर्मला पन्त बलात्कार तथा हत्याकाण्ड}}) or 2018 Kanchanpur rape and murder case involved rape and murder of a schoolgirl that occurred on 26 July 2018 in Kanchanpur District, Nepal. The incident took place when a 13-year-old female, Nirmala Panta, left for her friend's house and was found murdered in a sugarcane field the next day. The forensic report concluded with the fact that the girl was raped and murdered after. The incident out broke nationwide protests which resulted in the death and injury of some protestors.

Incident

On Thursday, 26 July 2018, a ninth-grade schoolgirl, Nirmala Panta of Bhimdattanagar-2, left her home for study, going to the house of her friend, Roshani Bam.^[2][3] MyRepublica explains that she went to Bam's house, which was one and a half kilometres away from her home, around 11 a.m., and spent 3 hours there before she left around 3 p.m. afterwards, which she did not reach home. The relatives filed a complaint about a missing girl in the local police station but the police refused and instructed to come next morning.^[2] On Friday, 27 July 2018, her dead body was found naked and placed on a one-foot-high waterlogged sugarcane field in Nimbukheda, Bhimdattanagar-18 about 500 meters far from Bam's house.^[2][3]

Investigation

The local police identified Nirmala after her bicycle was found on the side of the road near the sugarcane farm.^[3] The local police stated that she was murdered after rape as per the preliminary report.^[3] CIB (Crime Investigation Bureau) team led by DSP Angur G.C. began the investigation on reaching Kanchanpur on four days after the incident. Kanchanpur Police and CIB team declared a mentally retarded man named Dilip Singh Bista as the culprit, who was later proven innocent.^[4] According to the spokesperson of Nepal Police, SSP Shailesh Thapa Kshetri, the DNA sample of Dilip Singh was found unmatched with the vaginal swab of the victim, and thus was released on 12 September 2018. The local public, including the victim's family, believed that Dilip Singh was innocent and maliciously framed as the chief culprit on 20 August 2018 by the Kanchanpur Police.^[5] The Bam sisters, Babita Bam and Roshani Bam, were arrested on 23 August 2018 on the speculation of local public; they were also released, after the legal consultation with District Attorney Office together with Dilip Singh.^[5] Hari Prasad Mainali, Director General of Department of Prison Management, led a committee formed on 23 August 2018 by the Nepalese government to investigate the activities of the Crime Investigation Bureau team and the Kanchanpur Police after they had reported a mentally retarded man as the perpetrator.^[4] Kanchanpur Police Chief SP Dilli Raj Bista and Chief District Officer Kumar Bahadur Khadka were suspended for mishandling of the case on Saturday, 25 August 2018,^[6] and were replaced by new officials.^[14] The report of the Mainali Committee also resulted in the suspension of DSPs Gyan Bahadur Sethi and Angur GC, Inspectors Ekendra Khadka and Jagadish Bhatta, and Assistant Sub-inspector Ram Singh Dhami, by the Ministry of Home Affairs on Saturday.^[4][7] The police did not use the four sniffer dogs stationed at the provincial capital in Dhangadhi, which locals consider to be a sheer negligence of the police.^[8] On Monday, 17 September 2018, nine police officials were interrogated for their connections in the investigation of the case, which included Kanchanpur Police Chief SP Dili Raj Bista.^[9] However, Birendra K.C. quitted the Home Ministry investigation panel citing that the life threat was prevalent on him and his family from the group actively trying to undermine the investigation.^[5] As per spokesperson of Nepal Police SSP Shailesh Thapa Kshetri, the DNA sample of SP Bista, his son Kiran Bista, and Aayush Bista, the nephew of the mayor of Bhimdatta, Surendra Bista, have been taken together with the vaginal swab of the victim for further investigation.^[4] On 17 September 2018, a new investigation committee was set up by the Nepal Police under DIG (Deputy Inspector General of Police) Dhiru Basnyat to overtake the former investigation committee led by SSP Uttam Subedi.^[4] On the same day, Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli asserted that the assurance put upon the local police led to the derailment of the investigation. He speculates that either the police have forged the investigation or had committed mistakes in the investigation.^[22] The Panta couples travelled a 35 hours bus journey to Kathmandu to draw the attention of the central government on the case.^[14] PM Oli assured Panta couples to prosecute and punish the guilty person irrespective of his money, power, post, or influences.^[22]

On 18 September 2018, the Kanchanpur police chief SP Kuber Kathayat admitted that there was no concrete evidence, and that the investigation was ongoing. The government had earlier set up an investigation panel due to the destruction of evidence by the local investigating police after the discovery of the body of the victim.^[10] DIG Dhiru Basnyat who was appointed as the leading officer to a nine-member probe committee formed on 16 September 2018 for new investigation,^[11] stated to begin the investigation from a completely new perspective.^[11]

Demands and opinions

The brother of the victim, Laxmi Prasad Panta, asserted that the last rites will not be performed unless the perpetrators are punished, the victim's family are compensated, and a police beat is established at Nimbukheda.^[3] On 12 September 2018, in a conversation with The Himalayan Times, Yagya Raj Panta, father of Nirmala Panta, spoke about the atrocities of local police and local authorities and their forceful exertions to cremate the dead body instead of full-fledged investigation. Yagya Raj Panta and his wife Durga Devi Panta, continuously believe that Babita Bam and Roshani Bam (friend of Nirmala) are prime suspects.^[14] He quoted:

Nirmala's mother Durga Devi accused local police of destroying the evidence and misleading the investigation:

The locals continuously believe that Dilip Singh Bista was framed by the police to hide the real culprits.^[6] They demanded that the Nepal Army be investigated as an army barrack was near to the incident site.^[10]

Reactions and protests

The incident sparked public outrage and eventually broke social media which resulted in many public demonstrations.^[12] Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli, in a meeting with the victim's parents and lawmakers of Province No. 7, gave an assurance of justice to the victim's parents.^[13] In the public demonstrations in the Bhimdattanagar, one boy has died in the clash against the police forces. The events of public protests are chronologically arranged:

• On Friday evening, 27 July 2018, the students of the Nepal Student Union demonstrated and shut down the Bazaar Area of Bhimdatta, which resulted in a clash with the security personnel.^[3]
• On Saturday, 28 July 2018, the victim's family, together with the local civilians, women rights' organization, and sister organizations of the opposition party Nepali Congress, protested the failure of police to find the culprits and demanded security be established at the incident site.^[2] On Saturday, the victim's family and relatives staged demonstrations at the Mahakali Zonal Hospital, the Bazaar Area, and the municipal corporation.^[3]
• On 23 August 2018, locals in Kanchanpur staged demonstrations, market shutdown, and burning of tyres to protest the failure of police to find the real culprits. Demonstrations had been ongoing in Bhimdatta, Bhansi, Suda, Lalpur, Sisaiya, Daiji, Champhapur and adjacent areas since the incident.^[14]

• On 15 September 2018, a mass rally was organized at Maitighar Mandala, Kathmandu, with the slogan of Justice for Nirmala. The rally converged into a corner assembly at New Baneshwor.^[15]
• On Tuesday 18 September 2018, the Nepali Congress organized a rally at Mahendranagar, which was joined by the Panta couples, demanding the identification of the perpetrator of the incident and punishment to the culprits. They submitted a memorandum of demand to the Chief District Officer of Kanchanpur, Taranath Adhikari.^[16]
• On the same day, students of the Janajyoti Multiple Campus of Sarlahi district organized a rally at Lalbandi, Sarlahi, where hundreds of students, civil society leaders, political leaders, and women rights' activists took part demanding justice to the victim.^[16]
• On 30 October 2018, family, friends, relatives, and human rights' activists led a rally in Mahendranagar demanding justice for the rape victim and punitive action against SP Dilli Raj Bista and Inspector Jagadish Prasad Bhatta.^[17]

References

External links

• [https://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/tag/nirmala+panta Kantipur topic - Nirmala Panta]

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