Lawmakers have registered proposals to remove the statute of limitations in rape cases by amending the bill the government has brought to amend a few acts against sexual violence.
Law Minister Govinda Sharma Koirala had submitted the bill in the House on May 30 but the bill did not include proposal to remove the statute of limitations in rape cases despite Prime Minister (PM) Sher Bahadur Deuba publicly proposing to remove the statute of limitations.
Two groups out of 31 lawmakers have registered proposals to remove the statute of limitations in rape cases during discussion on the bill in the Law, Justice and Human Rights Committee of the House.
The lawmakers proposing removal of the statute of limitations in rape cases include 13 from ruling Nepali Congress (NC) and eight from the main opposition CPN-UML. The lawmakers from the two parties have registered separate proposals but their proposals are similar on the issue of removing the statute of limitations.
The statute of limitations requires that a rape case be filed within a year of offense if the victim is an adult, and within a year of the victim completing 18 years if the victim is a minor.
CPN (Maoist Center) lawmakers, meanwhile, have proposed that a rape case be filed within five years of the victim completing 18 years if the victim is a minor instead of a year.
