President of the main opposition party Nepali Congress (NC) Sher Bahadur Deuba has slammed the government for killing a boy demanding justice for raped and murdered Nirmala Panta and accused the government of protecting the culprits.
Speaking in the House of Representatives (HoR) on Sunday he criticized the haplessness of the government even as the incidents of rape and murder of girls and women is rising. "What kind of democracy are you exercising where a citizen's son has to die for demanding justice, Mr Prime Minister?" Deuba asked.
"A boy died as the state failed to exercise restraint in the Nirmala Panta murder case, and many have been injured. I strongly condemn this repressive style of government," he added.
He accused the government of protecting the culprits. "Where should the people go for justice now? Trying to save criminals is also crime. To initiate action framing an innocent as the culprit to save the real culprits is the height of crime. I urge the government to become serious about this issue."
The body of 13-year-old Panta of Bhimdutta municipality 2, who had gone to a friend’s home for study on July 26, was found at a sugarcane field the next day.
The police on August 18 arrested Dilip Singh Bista, 41, of Bhimdutta-19 and produced him before the Kanchanpur District Court on Monday as the main accused. But the locals have been claiming that Bista has been framed by the police to save the real culprits.
Nirmala's father Ek Raj has claimed that the police put pressure on him to file a complaint identifying Bista as the main accused.
Shani Khuna, 14, was killed in police firing on Friday and dozens have been injured in clashes with police as the locals have been protesting for the past few days accusing the police of trying to save the real culprits.
It took a month for the government to spring into action after widespread condemnation of the handling of the rape and murder case.
The Home Ministry on Saturday directed the Nepal Police headquarters to suspend the then SP of Kanchanpur Dilli Raj Bista over mishandling of the case. DSP Gyan Bahadur Seti and inspector at litigation section Ekendra Khadka have also been summoned to the headquarters.
The police earlier on Saturday arrested friend of Panta whose house she had visited before she was raped and murdered, and the friend’s sister for investigation. Nirmala’s friend Roshani Bam and her elder sister Anita Bam were arrested from their home.
