Krishna Bahadur Mahara will remain in police custody during the Dashain festival.
Mahara has been kept at the Metropolitan Police Circle, Singha Durbar that has amenities necessary for VIPs following arrest from the speaker's residence in Baluwatar Sunday afternoon after the Kathmandu District Court issued arrest warrant. Mahara, who resigned as speaker following rape allegations by staffer at the federal parliament secretariat Roshni Shahi, was staying at the speaker's residence despite resigning from the post on Tuesday.
The courts are closed now for Dashain and will open only on October 15. The Kathmandu District Court was opened Sunday only due to the urgent need to issue an arrest warrant in the case.
The police will produce Mahara before the court when it opens on October 15. It can ask for his judicial custody on the day.
A joint team of Metropolitan Police Range Kathmandu, Metropolitan Police Circle, New Baneshwore and Metropolitan Police Crime Division arrested Mahara from the speaker's residence in Baluwatar.
A bench of Justice Brajesh Pyakurel earlier on Sunday gave permission to the police to arrest Mahara and investigate. The new Criminal Code 2017 requires court permission to arrest any individual.
Shahi had finally lodged attempt to murder complaint with the Metropolitan Police Circle, New Baneshwore against Mahara on Friday claiming that Mahara attempted to rape her and assaulted her when she resisted.
The police had reached the court seeking arrest warrant on the basis of that complaint.
Mahara stands to be jailed for up to five years if he is found guilty of attempting to rape her. Raping a woman older than 18 years carries a jail term of seven to 10 years, according to the Criminal Code 2017. Attempt to rape carries half the sentence which means Mahara can be jailed from 3.50-5 years if he is found guilty.
Mahara was accused of rape and assault by Shahi on Sunday. She claimed an inebriated Mahara reached her rented apartment in Tinkune with a bottle of whiskey when there was no one else in the apartment Sunday night and raped her.
Shahi had called the police within an hour of the alleged incident and a team from Metropolitan Police Circle, New Baneshwore had immediately reached her rented apartment in Tinkune and recorded details from her.
She spoke to the media on Monday showing bruises on her face and legs she said were inflicted by Mahara. But the police slept on the case and waited for written complaint from Shahi.
She still had bruises on her face when she reached the police with her husband Chitra Jung Shahi to register the notice giving clean chit on Wednesday.
An emergency secretariat meeting of ruling CPN held at the prime minister's (PM) residence in Baluwatar on Tuesday asked Mahara to resign from both speaker and lawmaker to facilitate investigation. But Mahara resigned only from the post of speaker and has yet to resign from that of lawmaker as per the secretariat decision.
